Hong Kong slowly losing patronage of Chinese wealthy to Singapore amidst tighter Mainland scrutiny

The number of Chinese HNWI who cited Hong Kong as the preferred overseas investment destination dipped to 53%.

Bloomberg reports that a growing number of China’s high-net worth individuals are opting to direct their offshore wealth in Singapore at the expense of Hong Kong amidst tighter scrutiny from Mainland authorities and changing banking practices.

Hong Kong has signed tax transparency agreements requiring all banks to report their account holders’ information to Hong Kong tax officials, in preparation for giving that information to 75 jurisdictions, including mainland China. Singapore will have similar agreements with 61 jurisdictions but they don’t include either Hong Kong or Beijing, meaning its accounts and account holders aren’t visible to the Chinese government.

“We see Singapore, not Hong Kong, as the bridgehead of China’s investment overseas,” says Li Qinghao, co-founder of NewBanker Tech Consulting.

Here’s more from Bloomberg: