In this Dec 20, 2012 photo, a woman walks beneath signage for the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA).  (DALE DE LA REY / AFP)

HONG KONG – Nineteen banks in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region have qualified to provide cross-boundary wealth management services, according to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.    

In a statement issued on Monday night, the HKMA said the banks and their mainland partner banks can start providing cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect services on Tuesday.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority said the banks and their mainland partner banks can start providing cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect services on Tuesday

"It gives me great pleasure to see that a number of Hong Kong banks have completed the necessary preparatory work and are ready to start providing Cross-boundary WMC services,” Chief Executive of the HKMA Eddie Yue Wai-man was quoted as saying in the statement.

“Considering that it will be the first time for retail investors to conduct cross-boundary investments, we will closely monitor the operation of the Cross-boundary WMC and step up investor education and investor protection work together with the industry,” he added.

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The eligible banks include the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited, Bank of Communications (Hong Kong) Limited, China Construction Bank (Asia) Corporation Limited, Citibank (Hong Kong) Limited, Standard Chartered Bank, and Hang Seng Bank.

Yue said the HKMA will collaborate with the industry to explore enhancement measures “as and when appropriate, with a view to providing more growth opportunities for Hong Kong's banking and wealth management industry."

According to the "Implementation Arrangements for the Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect Pilot Scheme in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area" issued by the HKMA on September 10, 2021, banks in Hong Kong which intend to join should put in place systems, internal control measures and complete relevant systems testing.

They should also submit a self-assessment based on the implementation arrangements to the HKMA before they provide cross-boundary wealth management services.     

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The HKMA said it will continue to process the remaining self-assessments and update from time to time the list of eligible Hong Kong banks on the HKMA's dedicated Cross-Boundary WMC webpage.