Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) announced today (September 15) that under the vigorous promotion by the Government, over 200 family offices have set up operations or expanded their business in Hong Kong with the facilitation of Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK). This also marks an achievement of early completion of the key performance indicator set in the 2022 Policy Address well ahead of schedule, signalling that the city’s standing as Asia’s leading cross-border private wealth management centre and hub for global family offices is firmly anchored to a greater extent.
To strengthen this key growth segment of the asset and wealth management industry, the Chief Executive in his first Policy Address put forward a clear target of facilitating no fewer than 200 family offices in establishing or expanding their operations in Hong Kong by the end of 2025. Subsequently, the FSTB published in March 2023 a policy statement to demonstrate the Government’s commitment to enhancing the ecosystem for family offices and asset owners. The policy statement outlined eight policy measures, including offering tax concessions, introducing the New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (New CIES), and establishing the Hong Kong Academy for Wealth Legacy, with a view to curating a conducive and competitive environment for the businesses of family offices.
Considering the positive response from the targeted client base to the New CIES, the Government made enhancements to the Scheme this March to further raise the city’s appeal to global high-net-worth individuals seeking to invest and settle in Hong Kong. Relevant enhancements include that investments in permissible investment assets made through a private company wholly owned by an applicant and managed by an eligible single family office can be counted towards the value of the applicant’s eligible investments. Subject to the fulfilment of other requirements of the scheme, an entrant may apply in accordance with the law to become a permanent resident of Hong Kong if he or she meets the requirement of having ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than seven years and other relevant provisions of the Immigration Ordinance.