SFST: Recognizing Hong Kong's Status as Premier Destination for Family Office Growth and Legacy Preservation at Hong Kong Fiduciary Association Summit

Speech by SFST at Hong Kong Fiduciary Association Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Following is the speech by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, at the Global Family Office New Era Summit organised by the Hong Kong Fiduciary Association in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, today (July 22):

Tan Sri Ong (Former Minister of Transport of Malaysia and President of the Belt and Road Initiative Caucus for Asia Pacific, Tan Sri Dato' Sri Ong Tee Keat), Cyril (Founder and Honorary President of the Hong Kong Fiduciary Association, Mr Cyril Yeung), Chung-chee (Asia Pacific President of the Hong Kong Fiduciary Association, Mr Mong Chung-chee), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Good afternoon, or "selamat petang". It is my great pleasure to join you all today for the Hong Kong Fiduciary Association Summit here in Kuala Lumpur, a city that embodies the dynamic, entrepreneurial heartbeat of Southeast Asia.

Walking through this vibrant economic hub, I am deeply inspired by the resilience, ambition, and long-term vision of Malaysian family businesses. For generations, families here have not only driven the economic landscape of the nation, but have also successfully projected influence across ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and beyond.

I am here today as Hong Kong values our long-standing partnership with the Malaysian community. I am also going to share with you exciting new developments in our family office business which I am sure you will be interested.

But before that, allow me to be frank. As we gather here today, we are living in what can only be described as a "new normal". The global landscape is shifting under our feet at unprecedented speed. We see rapid political re-alignments, heightened geopolitical tensions, unpredictable capital flows, and regulatory overhauls.

For asset owners and wealth creators like all of you, the central question has evolved from a simple "How do we grow our portfolio?" in the past, to a far more profound inquiry in the present and future: "How do we preserve core stability, values, and legacy?"

I have come from Hong Kong with a direct, unambiguous answer. In an unpredictable world, Hong Kong is your anchor. We cannot make the impossible promise to eliminate global volatility. No one can. But what Hong Kong does offer is absolute certainty in our rules, unwavering predictability in our fiscal framework, and a permanent, long-term commitment to remain a premier global family office hub.

Hong Kong, Photo source: reference image

The power of the market

We usually "follow the money" to see where markets "truly" cast their votes of confidence. The statistics coming out of Hong Kong are not only impressive on paper. They are a powerful, undeniable market signal that ultra-high-net-worth families are making definitive moves to enter Hong Kong, to stay in Hong Kong, and to build their multi-generational legacies in Hong Kong.

The lists where Hong Kong tops the charts are endless, so I will try not to let this Summit overrun too much. Just earlier this month, our securities regulator released an annual survey, showing Hong Kong's AUM (assets under management) in 2025 jumped 20 per cent year-on-year to a record high of US$5.4 trillion. Net fund inflows coming into Hong Kong almost tripled year-on-year to US$265 billion.

In May, according to the Boston Consulting Group, Hong Kong surpassed Switzerland to become the world's largest cross-boundary wealth management centre. It is projected that, from 2025 to 2030, the cross-boundary wealth managed by Hong Kong will grow by nine per cent on average every year, maintaining first place globally.

On the public securities front, Hong Kong also ranked first globally in IPOs (initial public offerings) last year. What do these numbers tell us? They confirm that when the world's most sophisticated wealth looks for liquidity, security, and institutional depth, all roads lead to Hong Kong.

Policy and tax certainty

The bedrock of Hong Kong's appeal lies in the enduring framework of "one country, two systems". We value institutional continuity and also structural predictability. We maintain a bilingual common law legal system, an independent judiciary, and complete free flow of capital and at the same time the most stable tax regime there is.

In the latest World Competitiveness Yearbook 2026, Hong Kong's tax policy has topped the global rankings for two years in a row – and it is easy to see why: we offer zero capital gains tax; zero value-added tax or GST (goods and services tax); and zero inheritance tax.

Tax aside, we are determined to develop a vibrant ecosystem for family offices and asset owners to thrive in Hong Kong through a range of measures. We issued the Policy Statement on Developing Family Office Businesses in Hong Kong in March 2023. From providing profits tax concessions to family-owned investment holding vehicles, to launching our New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme, we continue to welcome more funds and family offices to set up and operate in Hong Kong. We have here Owin (the Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Kuala Lumpur, Mr Owin Fung). He is now the head of our KL office. So any enquiries go to him if you want to learn more about our schemes.

We have also just introduced into our legislature a proposal to enhance the preferential tax regimes for funds, single family offices and carried interest. We will cover even more types of qualifying investments eligible for tax concessions, such as private credit, digital assets, precious metals and specified commodities, and therefore help broaden the investment options for family offices.

In other words, whether your family office seeks to invest in traditional equities, or diversify into digital assets or precious metals, Hong Kong provides a clear, legally secure, and tax-exempt environment for you to do so.

The ultimate bridge for Malaysian capital

Many of you in this room are active entrepreneurs. Your wealth is rooted right here in Malaysia and the greater ASEAN region. Hong Kong is designed to act as your external gateway in deploying private capital to a world of investment opportunities.

By setting up a family office in Hong Kong, you have unlocked unrivalled structural synergies. Just to name a few. Hong Kong is by far the world's top offshore Renminbi business hub, processing three quarters of the world's offshore Renminbi transactions and backed by a massive deposit pool of over RMB1.1 trillion. This is an indispensable tool for any Malaysian business trading with or expanding into the Chinese Mainland.

For families who entrust physical gold as the ultimate storage of value, Hong Kong is also your destination. Just this month earlier on the seventh, Hong Kong has commenced the trial operation of our government-owned central clearing and settlement system for gold. We are happy to share with all of you that the response is encouraging, with gold deposits as well as trading and settlement activities executed with strong support from key market participants including banks, mining companies, refiners, jewellers and many others. The initial phase of Delivery Connect we launched with the Shanghai Gold Exchange also goes well. Several banks have already participated and completed two-way transfers of gold. Of course, we are also working in full steam to expand our gold storage capacity to over 2 000 tonnes in three years if you are concerned about storage.

Good news for those of you who are less "physical": Hong Kong's fintech offerings rank number one globally in the latest Global Financial Centres Index. I can assure you that our fintech and crypto framework is among the best you can find around the world.

On all counts, by keeping your business roots in Malaysia's high-growth economy while anchoring your global wealth infrastructure in Hong Kong's deep and liquid markets - you maximise both legacy preservation and capital efficiency.

Beyond wealth preservation

Indeed, we are not merely looking to preserve wealth, but also to preserve our legacy.

McKinsey projects that over US$5.8 trillion in wealth will be handed over to the next generation within Asia-Pacific in the coming years. This is not just a hand-off of money; it is a fundamental transition in family governance, values, and purpose.

Hong Kong offers the safe harbour, the policy stability and the sophisticated ecosystem that ambitious families need to turn vision into lasting impact. We offer the bedrock upon which global family offices are choosing to build, preserve and multiply generational legacy. That's why we have the Hong Kong Academy for Wealth Legacy.

The Academy provides a platform for collaboration, networking, knowledge sharing and talent development for asset owners like all of you, wealth inheritors and the wider family office community. It also launched its flagship philanthropic initiative, Impact Link, to encourage family participants to explore and develop philanthropic initiatives, and share scalable projects to share your experience and also impact investment. Please do get in touch if you are interested to learn more.

As you can see, we are positioning Hong Kong not merely as a place to book trades, as that would simply be an "investment hub" serving for the short term. Instead, we build a dynamic ecosystem where multiple generations come together to learn, to grow, and to lead global thought leadership, and that's where we call a "family office hub".

Hong Kong, Photo source: reference image

Closing: choose certainty, choose Hong Kong

Ladies and gentlemen, a family legacy is not built for the next fiscal quarter; it is sculpted for the next century.

Amidst global disorder, the Hong Kong model offers clarity. We provide clear roadmaps, highly predictable regulations, a mature wealth ecosystem, and impactful growth platforms. True certainty is not about hoping the world doesn't change; it is about being able to thrive no matter how the world changes.

Our dedicated FamilyOfficeHK team under Invest Hong Kong, our investment promotion agency, stands ready as always to provide one-stop support services for setting up family offices in Hong Kong.

By the latest count in end-2025, there were over 3 380 single family offices in Hong Kong. That's about 680 offices, or over 25 per cent more, compared with two years ago. And at this moment right now, we have another 160-plus family offices planning to set up or extend the business in Hong Kong. I invite you to reach out, join the club, and let us help you explore the wealth of opportunities ahead.

Allow me to leave you with one final thought: do not just protect your wealth for the next quarter; anchor your legacy for the generations to come. Choose certainty. Choose Hong Kong.

Thank you very much, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the Summit. Good health and all the successes for the generations to come.

The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, Photo source: reference image

Speech by SFST at Hong Kong Fiduciary Association Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Conviction case of unlicensed operation of "student hostel"

An operator of an unlicensed "student hostel" was convicted today (July 22) at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts of contravening the Bedspace Apartments Ordinance (Cap. 447) (the Ordinance).

Officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA) under the Home Affairs Department (HAD) conducted an inspection in March this year at a premises located in Kowloon Tong, and discovered an unlicensed bedspace apartment equipped with bedspaces being used as sleeping accommodation under rental agreements. After investigation, the OLA obtained sufficient evidence and instituted prosecution. The operator concerned pleaded guilty to operating a bedspace apartment without a certificate of exemption or a licence, in contravention of sections 5(1) and 6(a) of the Ordinance.

A spokesman said, "The OLA is committed to combatting unlicensed bedspace apartments to safeguard the safety of occupants and other users of the building. Recently, there are premises in the market self-styled as 'student hostels' or 'student residences', some of which involve 12 or more bedspaces used or intended to be used for accommodation under rental agreements, and are thus regulated by the Ordinance. Under the Ordinance, any premises containing 12 or more bedspaces that are used or intended to be used as sleeping accommodation under rental agreements requires a bedspace apartment licence before commencing operation. Operating an unlicensed bedspace apartment is a criminal offence."

The OLA attaches great importance to the issue of unlicensed bedspace apartments and will continue to adopt a multipronged approach to combat unlicensed bedspace apartments through continuous enforcement, stepped-up enforcement efforts, and extensive publicity. Upon receiving reports or complaints, officers of the OLA will conduct investigations into the premises concerned, and will take enforcement and prosecution actions when sufficient evidence is found. The OLA has also strengthened its intelligence-gathering work, including proactively conducting inspections, gathering relevant intelligence through various channels, establishing a notification mechanism with District Offices to obtain information on suspected unlicensed bedspace apartments, and continuing joint interdepartmental operations with other law enforcement agencies to combat unlicensed bedspace apartments. From 2021 to date, the OLA has instituted 12 prosecutions against unlicensed bedspace apartments, and all cases have resulted in convictions.

Source: AI-found images