HONG KONG SAR - 27 February 2026 - In his 2026-27 Budget announced on Wednesday (25 February), Paul Chan, Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) outlined areas for comprehensively reinforcing the city's position as a leading international financial hub.

Despite the complex and ever-changing external environment, Mr Chan noted that Hong Kong's financial market had performed strongly and the city's financial system remains robust.

In 2025, Hong Kong ranked first globally for funds raised through initial public offerings.

"We will continue to consolidate our existing strengths, tap into emerging fields, strengthen market systems and risk control and deepen financial co-operation in the Greater Bay Area," Mr Chan said. "By doing so, we will enhance Hong Kong's role as an international financial centre on all fronts and contribute to the national strategic goal of 'accelerating China's development as a financial powerhouse' ".

With Hong Kong being the world's largest hub for offshore Renminbi (RMB) business, the Financial Secretary said the city would leverage its unique strengths and proactively align with national development strategies.

For advancing the internationalisation of the RMB, Mr Chan said Hong Kong would facilitate the wider use of RMB in activities such as trade and cross-boundary business; reduce transaction costs; enrich product offerings in the offshore RMB market; improve price discovery in the short-to-medium-term-interest-rate market; and attract high-quality issuers to increase RMB bond issuance in Hong Kong.

In 2025, the stock market delivered a stellar performance. The Hang Seng Index rose by 28 per cent over the year. The daily turnover surged by 90 per cent to a historic high of close to $250 billion (US$32 billion).

Mr Chan said the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) would continue enhancing the securities market, attracting issuers and boosting market efficiency.

"We will also introduce the next stage of reforms, including enhancing the regulatory regime for listed companies, providing specific guidelines for overseas companies seeking secondary listing in Hong Kong, offering more overseas markets as recognised exchanges, and continuing to explore with the market the provision of an over-the-counter trading platform for delisted stocks or those requiring special handling.

"The electronic bond-trading platform will also be launched in the second half of this year, thereby reinforcing Hong Kong's position as a global fixed income and currency hub," he said.

To attract more family offices and funds to set up in Hong Kong, Mr Chan said Hong Kong would enhance the tax regime, including expanding the scope of "fund" to cover specific funds-of-one, as well as classifying digital assets, precious metals, and specified commodities, etc. as qualifying investments eligible for tax concessions.

Regarding the development of digital assets, the Government published the second policy statement for developing Hong Kong into a global hub for digital asset innovation through the establishment of a comprehensive regulatory framework.

A bill will be introduced this year to establish licensing regimes for, among others, digital asset dealing and custodian service providers.

"We will also explore the adoption of electronic signature for bond issuance documents and the digitalisation of bearer bonds," Mr Chan said.

To promote the application of fintech and enhance the efficiency of the asset management market, the CMU OmniClear, a market infrastructure operator established by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, will establish a digital asset platform this year. It will support the issuance and settlement of digital bonds. The platform will also be gradually extended to other digital assets and linked with other tokenisation platforms in the region, consolidating Hong Kong's leading role in the realm of digital assets.

In order to build an international gold trading market in Hong Kong, Mr Chan said the Government would explore offering tax incentives for eligible institutions conducting gold trading and settlement in Hong Kong; assist the industry in setting up an industry-led trade association to consolidate resources, step up promotion, and foster ties with industry stakeholders from around the world; and help the industry keep abreast of the latest gold market developments, acquire relevant skills and develop a training framework.

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