HSBC Holdings plc attracted more than 130,000 new bank customers in Hong Kong in the first quarter. Bank of China (Hong Kong) gained 200,000 new cross-border clients in 2023, while at Hang Seng Bank, new account openings for non-residents jumped 342% last year.
The surge is in large part being driven by mainland Chinese flocking to Hong Kong, and offers a welcome bright spot for the city that’s struggling to recover after the pandemic and years of political upheaval.
Many are opening accounts to tap a wider range of investment options — from insurance to fixed deposits — to capture the Asian financial hub’s higher interest rates and escape mainland China’s moribund markets.
Earlier this year, Standard Chartered plc was offering short-term deposit rates of as high as 10% to attract Chinese customers. Regulators in Beijing have also clamped down on high-yielding wealth management products onshore, while sinking real estate prices have sapped nest eggs across China.
“There’s a massive growth of assets under management going from the mainland to offshore markets,” said Maggie Ng, the head of wealth and personal banking for Hong Kong at HSBC. “We are the first port of call for these mainland customers looking to make investments overseas.”
Hong Kong’s role as an investment hub will be the focus of the Bloomberg Wealth Asia Summit in the city on Wednesday, with speakers from UBS Group AG, HSBC and Julius Baer Group AG. Source: Bloomberg
