SFST's speech at Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners Asia Conference 2025
Following is the speech by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, at the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) Asia Conference 2025 today (November 6):
Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, members of STEP from across the globe,
Good morning. It is my great pleasure to welcome you all to the STEP Asia Conference here in Hong Kong. I must say this week is rather eventful for us. We have the FinTech Week; we have the Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit, followed by the STEP Asia Conference. I think one thing that differentiates this one from the two that I attended earlier is that it is super quiet here. In fact this goes very much in line with the theme and also your mission, because there is a Chinese saying that "People only get rich when you stay quiet" (悶聲發大財). After all, in this world of uncertainty and also the need for wealth planning for the future as highlighted by the theme of this year's conference, "Thriving through Uncertainty: Wealth Planning for the Future", we also need to be very focused and very professional in what we do. In an era of geopolitical shifts, market volatility, and rapid technological change, family offices and wealth owners are seeking not just preservation, but sustainable growth, intergenerational legacy, and positive impact. Hong Kong stands ready to be your strategic partner in this very journey.
We have long been recognised as one of the world's top international financial centres (IFC), with our asset and wealth management industry forming a cornerstone of that strength. In fact, we have recently been ranked third globally as an IFC, and Asia's number one, with sectors including "banking", "investment management", "insurance" and "finance" ranked at the top three positions globally. Under the "one country, two systems" framework, we serve as the important link between the Chinese Mainland and global markets - backed by a robust regulatory system, world-class professional services, and deep market liquidity.
The Government's initiatives on family offices
The Government is fully committed to positioning Hong Kong as the premier hub for family offices in Asia and beyond. Our unique strengths - a common law system rooted in fairness and transparency, cutting-edge financial infrastructure, strategic proximity to the Mainland, and a simple tax regime - all make us the natural choice for ultra-high-net-worth families from across the world.
We have adopted a multipronged, collaborative approach with regulators and industry partners to create a truly conducive environment. Central to this is the provision of profits tax concessions for family-owned investment holding vehicles managed by single family offices in Hong Kong. This lowers the cost barrier, allowing families to focus on long-term growth, legacy building, and impactful investing. To further sharpen our competitive edge, the Government will introduce a legislative proposal in the first half of next year to enhance the preferential tax regimes for funds, single family offices, and carried interest - ensuring that Hong Kong remains one of the most attractive jurisdictions for global capital and talent.
Recognising the crucial role of talent and expertise, we established the Hong Kong Academy for Wealth Legacy two years ago under the Financial Services Development Council. The academy serves as a collaborative platform to network, share knowledge and enhance the capabilities of asset owners and industry practitioners, in particular the next-gen. By fostering positive financial management values and strengthening the talent pool, the academy supports the professionalisation of the sector, ensuring family offices have access to the expertise needed to thrive in a competitive and complex landscape.
Our policies so far, I must say proudly, deliver results. In 2023, we set an ambitious target to attract at least 200 family offices to establish or expand in Hong Kong by the end of this year. We achieved this goal ahead of schedule in September this year. Building on this momentum, as announced in the latest Policy Address by our Chief Executive, we now aim to welcome an additional 220 family offices between 2026 and 2028 - further deepening and enriching our ecosystem. We will continue to refine our policy measures to keep up the growth momentum of the family office sector.
A sustainable future
Among different investment themes, we noted sustainable investment is one of the key opportunities pursued by global family offices, as they offer attractive risk-adjusted returns amid global uncertainties. Hong Kong is well positioned, and we have established ourselves as a leading international green and sustainable finance centre in Asia. Last year, the total green and sustainable debt issued in Hong Kong exceeded US$84 billion, with green and sustainable bonds arranged in the city amounting to US$43 billion, accounting for approximately 45 per cent of Asia's total. This marks the seventh consecutive year for Hong Kong to top the league table in Asia, fully demonstrating our leadership in the green finance market.
Bond and debt issuance aside, Hong Kong is also a pioneer in developing green and sustainable financial products. We have pioneered and witnessed the growth of various new ESG (environmental, social and governance) products in Hong Kong, including the world's first government tokenised green bond, the world's first exchange-traded fund (ETF) investing in Asian green bonds, Asia's first green retail certificates of deposit, and the world's first offshore A-share ESG ETF. These innovative products demonstrate Hong Kong's advancements in green and sustainable finance and position our market well as an ideal place to channel capital towards green and sustainable projects.
Embracing the digital asset future
Another key theme for diversification is the embrace of non-traditional asset classes, notably digital assets. I am glad to see STEP is also doing its work in terms of promulgating different policy areas on this front. In June this year, the Hong Kong Government released our Policy Statement 2.0 on digital assets, which outlines a vision for a secure, trusted, and innovative digital asset ecosystem, with measures announced around the theme of "LEAP" - Legal and regulatory streamlining, Expanding the suite of tokenised products, Advancing use cases and cross-sectoral collaboration, and People and partnership development.
The Hong Kong Government is establishing a unified regulatory regime for digital assets, covering Exchanges, stablecoin issuers, trading service providers and custodians, with investor protection at its core. Guided by the principle of "same activity, same risks, same regulation", our regime provides a solid ground for the market to further develop, and for global family offices and wealth owners to consider allocation in digital assets through Hong Kong's regulated and compliant offerings.
Nowadays, global family offices and asset owners need to carefully manage risks in portfolios. To summarise the various initiatives I just highlighted, what we seek to do and also provide for the market are the "3Cs" - clarity, consistency, and credibility. I must say in these days, these are actually quite rare commodities in the world, and Hong Kong delivers exactly that - a stable, predictable, and forward-looking environment where wealth can thrive through uncertainty. With concerted efforts from the industry, I am confident that Hong Kong will continue to thrive as the leading family office hub in Asia and beyond. On this front, I definitely count on the support from staff and also all of you. I wish this conference every success, and I hope all of you will find the discussions ahead insightful, productive and inspiring. And in particular, if you get some time out of this busy agenda to see more of Hong Kong by yourselves, Michael (Committee Member of STEP Hong Kong, Mr Michael Olesnicky) can be the perfect guide for you. Thank you.
Source: AI-found images
