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Financial and Monetary Affairs
Chart 4
2,000
Total Outstanding HKD Debt Securities
HK$ Billion
1,500
1,731
1,802
1,845
1,517
1,410
1,000
0
2014
2015
2016
Year
2017
2018
The Government Bond Programme promotes the development of the bond market in Hong Kong. It has a borrowing ceiling of $200 billion. Successful issuances of institutional bonds, retail inflation-linked bonds and Islamic bonds in the past testify to the vibrancy and robustness of the local bond market.
Bonds totalling $19.6 billion were issued under the programme in 2018, including $16.6 billion to institutional investors and a $3 billion inflation-linked Silver Bond to Hong Kong residents aged 65 or above.
In May, the government introduced a three-year Pilot Bond Grant Scheme to encourage enterprises to issue bonds in Hong Kong. Eligible enterprises issuing bonds in Hong Kong for the first time may receive a grant equivalent to half of its issuance expenses, capped at $2.5 million per issuance for up to two bond issuances.
The Qualifying Debt Instrument Scheme under the Inland Revenue Ordinance was amended in November to promote trading and investment in the bond market. The amendments extend the scope of tax exemption for debt instruments and allow SEHK-listed debt instruments to qualify for tax exemption in addition to instruments lodged with and cleared by the HKMA's CMU.
Asset and Wealth Management
Hong Kong is well placed as Asia's premier asset and wealth management centre, amid fast wealth creation in Asia and deepening financial market liberalisation in the Mainland. At the end of 2017, Hong Kong's asset and wealth management business was valued at $24,270 billion, of which 66 per cent came from non-local investors, showcasing the city's attractiveness to international investors'. At the end of 2018, 1,678 companies were licensed by or registered with the SFC to carry out asset management business locally, up 10.9 per cent from end-2017. There were 2,195 SFC-authorised unit trusts and mutual funds, of which 775 were domiciled in
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Figures are quoted from the Asset and Wealth Management Activities Survey for 2017, an annual SFC survey about the general state of affairs in the local asset and wealth management industry.
These include 125 MPF pooled investment funds offered both as retail unit trusts and for MPF purposes.
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