HONG KONG - The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area should accelerate business information sharing and promote digital currency, Bank of East Asia’s co-chief executive said on Friday.
Brian David Li Man-bun, who also sits on the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, said notable progress has been made since the rollout of the Wealth Management Connect in 2020, which enables cross-border investment in financial management products.
However, he said, challenges remain, such as the lack of open data for business operations, and institutional barriers amid different financial regulations in a multi-jurisdictional context.
Information connectivity in the Bay Area is hindered by the different privacy regulations in the three jurisdictions — Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao — making it hard for residents to open bank accounts across the border, he said.
Small- and medium-sized enterprises in other Bay Area cities may find themselves unable to use the financial services provided by Hong Kong banks under the Know Your Customer guidelines, which require financial institutions to ask for detailed information from customers, Li said.
Li had raised the issue at the annual session of CPPCC National Committee in Beijing on Thursday, wth a proposal to to launch a phased and prudent pilot program to strengthen information connectivity.
The proposal said financial institutions registered in the Bay Area should be allowed to share data within the region, whie complying with the guidelines drawn up by the financial regulators from the three jurisdictions to protect data security and enhance unified supervision, streamlining the process for depositors to open bank accounts.
According to the proposal, the Bay Area can also spearhead the promotion of digital currency by carrying out more pilot programs in the region, including the digital renminbi in the Wealth Management Connect program to facilitate cross-border flows of digital currency and capital.
“If the digital renminbi can be used in purchasing cross-border financial products, and a mechanism for cross-border digital renminbi transactions through Hong Kong can be established, the renminbi’s global competitiveness will be enhanced,” Li said.
The digital currency, which has already been used in transactions worth more than 2 billion yuan ($308.5 million) in pilot programs across the Chinese mainland, could be used by Hong Kong residents for spending within the Bay Area development zone, Yi Gang, governor of the People’s Bank of China, said in November.
