74 | Financial and Monetary Affairs
Fund-raising Centre
Hong Kong is the premier capital formation centre for the Mainland whose enterprises have raised $2,975.2 billion since January 1993. The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) has been stepping up its promotion of Hong Kong as a preferred listing venue.
Hong Kong is also keen to have overseas companies with China business connections to consider listing in Hong Kong through which these companies can attract international funds and practise international standards. In 2010, Russian, French and Brazilian companies listed in Hong Kong for the first time. Newly listed. companies have been attracted by the market's liquidity, attractive valuations and access to investors in Asia. To attract more foreign companies to list in Hong Kong, HKEx has been streamlining its listing process for overseas companies, updating its Listing Rules on mineral and exploration companies to attract companies from the mining and resource sector, and continuing with its marketing activities.
Acceptance of Mainland Accounting and Auditing Standards and Mainland Audit Firms for Mainland Incorporated Companies Listed in Hong Kong
Based on the convergence of Mainland and Hong Kong accounting and auditing standards in December 2007 and having consulted the market in 2009, the HKEX implemented a framework to give companies from the Mainland and Hong Kong the choice of preparing financial statements under the accounting standards. of the home jurisdiction and audited by auditors in the home jurisdiction for listing in the other jurisdiction with effect from mid-December 2010. This scheme, being reciprocal in nature, enables Mainland incorporated Main Board and Growth Enterprise Market issuers to choose to prepare their financial statements (including those for IPOs and periodic reports) using Mainland accounting standards and to engage Mainland audit firms endorsed by the relevant Mainland authorities to audit the financial reports, and similarly extends the allowance to Hong Kong incorporated or registered companies to use the Hong Kong Financial Reporting Standards or the International Financial Reporting Standards when they list in Mainland markets in the future. The framework serves to enhance market efficiency and help attract more Mainland company listings, benefiting Hong Kong's development as China's global financial centre and the premier capital formation platform in the region.
Asset Management Centre
China's strong economic growth spearheaded Asia's overall economic recovery and created investment opportunities in the region in the wake of the world financial crisis. Hong Kong with its strong asset management foundation and world- class financial infrastructure benefits greatly from the huge demand for wealth and asset management services in the Mainland. Hong Kong is also well placed to become Asia's premier asset management centre. The city's combined fund management business amounted to US$1,090 billion at the end of 2009, approximately 64 per cent of which was sourced from non-Hong Kong investors, underlining the city's strong appeal to foreign investment capital. At the end of December of 2010, there were 89 approved fund management groups managing 1 937 unit trusts and mutual funds authorised by the SFC.