White Collar | Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission should move out of Central offices – and here’s why
Does the commission, Hong Kong’s statutory regulator, need an impressive address any way?
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission might need to move out of Central as it cannot afford to buy its own offices in the prime office district – the most expensive worldwide.
But it should consider moving out of Central anyway, as its peers and the brokers it regulates left a long time ago.
The talk in town is where will the commission relocate, after chairman Carlson Tong Ka-shing informed the city’s lawmakers that the regulator had a budget of about HK$3 billion (US$383.63 million) for 180,000 sq ft of office space for its about 965 staff members.
Tong admitted the commission’s budget was going to be insufficient for an office in Central, which would require between HK$7 billion and HK$9 million.
But besides budgeting issues, there are other reasons the commission could move out of Central.
Some brokers such as Christfund Securities remain in Central to maintain an impressive address in the city, but many brokerage houses and fund management companies cannot afford to buy or rent an office in Central. Everbright Sun Hung Kai is located in Causeway Bay, KGI Capital Asia in Wan Chai and Haitong International Securities Group is in Sheung Wan.