HKMA announces 19 eligible banks for cross-boundary WMC

Three of the 19 banks include HSBC, Citibank, and Standard Chartered.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced the 19 eligible banks in Hong Kong which can launch the cross-boundary wealth management connect (cross-boundary WMC) services on 18 October. The banks, with their respective China partner banks, can start providing cross-boundary WMC services on 19 October at the earliest.

CEO Eddie Yue said, "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. 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. We will collaborate with the industry to explore enhancement measures to the scheme 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 agreements promulgated on 10 September, banks in Hong Kong that intend to embark on cross-boundary WMC activities should put in place systems, internal control measures and complete relevant systems testing, and submit a self-assessment to the HKMA prior to the launch of such activities.