Hong Kong needs to attract global champions to broaden fundraising base: FSDC

Hong Kong will need to attract global champion firms across different sectors to raise funds to strengthen the city’s role as an international financial centre over the next 10 years, according to a concept paper issued by the Financial Services Development Council (FSDC) on Friday.

“Global markets do not stand still,” said Benjamin Hung Pi-cheng, chairman of the FSDC, at a media briefing where the council outlined a wide range of ideas to bring the city’s capital market to the next level. “Hong Kong has every opportunity to shape, innovate and lead.”

The FSDC, a government-backed think tank, conducts studies and research to find ways to strengthen the city as an international financial centre.

While Hong Kong’s stock market had been a fundraising hub for mainland Chinese companies for decades, the next step was to develop the city as a platform for companies from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe and America to list or issue bonds and other asset classes, Hung said.

“From new biotechnology companies or fintech companies to global leading companies, we want to attract them to raise funds here by issuing equities, bonds or other asset classes,” Hung said. “Only in Hong Kong can global companies access a very large pool of money, which is not just international capital but also China’s capital.”