Hong Kong to surpass Switzerland as top cross-border investment hub: HSBC chair

HSBC (0005) chairman Brendan Nelson expected Hong Kong to surpass Switzerland as the leading global cross-border investment hub, citing the strong recovery of the city's capital market.

"Hong Kong's capital market experienced a strong liquidity-driven recovery, characterized by resurgent initial public offering activities and high trading volumes, further strengthening its leadership as an international global financial center," he said at the HSBC Global Investment Summit in Hong Kong.

As China sets its goal of gross domestic product to grow 4.5 percent to 5 percent this year, coupled with active financial policies to advance high-quality development, services consumption, and infrastructure investment, it will bring large opportunities, he added.

Meanwhile, HSBC chief executive Georges Elhedery said the group holds strong confidence in the opportunities and momentum in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is targeting to become the biggest cross-border wealth center in the world by the end of this decade, primarily driven by the mainland assets, Elhedery said.

In the past two years, HSBC attracted over 1 million new customers in Hong Kong annually, most of whom are non-local people, he added.

Its confidence for the city is also exemplified in the privatization of the Hang Seng Bank, which marked its largest direct investment in Hong Kong on record, he noted.

After being granted the stablecoin issuer licence, HSBC plans to launch a Hong Kong dollar-denominated stablecoin in the second half of 2026, he said.

Elhedery pointed out that Hong Kong's regulatory framework gives banks confidence to engage in stablecoin issuance, backed by robust financial compliance and prudent risk management.

Besides, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu noted that more and more of the listings in Hong Kong are from fast-emerging technology industries, including artificial intelligence, semiconductors, robotics, autonomous driving, biotechnology, and other strategic areas, with more than 500 applications queuing up for an initial public offering.

In his speech at the summit, Lee said that the city's fundraising in the IPO market had exceeded US$14 billion (HK$109.7 billion) in the first quarter, ranking first globally.

The average daily turnover of Hong Kong stocks reached nearly US$39 billion in March, rising eight percent over the same period last year, he added.