HK market strengths to be reinforced

The Hong Kong government has published a press release in which it summarizes the key initiatives and objectives that were recently noted in the policy address by the Chief Excecutive Mr. John Lee. Below is a brief summary of the key points as they may be of interest to our clients. For all points outlined in the statement, please refer to the original press release.
#### Planned initiatives in the upcoming year
– The government intends to further strengthen Hong Kong’s international trade and financial center status by exploring opportunities in markets included in the Belt & Road (BNR) Initiative and also Mainland China.
– The government plans to organize outbound missions and visits to the Greater Bay Area (GBA) to foster business opportunities with Mainland and overseas enterprises.
– The government seeks to establish new offices in BNR countries, sign investment agreements with various countries, and even negotiate a free trade agreement with Peru.
– The government plans to reduce the stamp duty on stock transfers from the current rate of 0.13% to 0.1% based on the transaction’s value. The legislative process for this reduction is expected to be concluded by the end of November.
– Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing (HKEX) and Hong Kong’s financial regulators will explore the possibility of lowering minimum trading spreads (bid-ask spreads) to align more closely with market conditions.
– HKEX will also introduce „fixed-fee enterprise data packages and implement a new fee structure for its real-time data services later this year“.
– The HKEX further plans to introduce a new integrated investment fund platform in the upcoming months which is expected to increase distribution efficiency and lower corresponding transaction costs.
– The HKEX also seeks to implement revised Listing Rules in the first quarter of next year.
– Finally, the government plans to launch a new subsidy scheme for green fintech companies to develop Hong Kong as a green fintech hub.
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Please also see this publication by the government in same context.