There is no large flow of funds from Hong Kong, Singapore central bank says

Name: What you should know about China's new national security law for Hong Kong
Uploaded: 2020-07-16T09:31:45.000Z
Duration: 5 min 50 s
Description: What you should know about China's new national security law for Hong Kong

Ravi Menon, the MAS chief, says Hong Kong still has its attractions even though inquiries from firms looking to come to Singapore are picking up

‘If things go badly wrong in Hong Kong, that’s not good for the region, and not good for Singapore’

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Bloomberg

Published: 5:31pm, 16 Jul 2020Updated: 5:39pm, 16 Jul 2020

Hong Kong remains a “formidable” financial centre even though inquiries from businesses looking to come to Singapore are picking up amid the uncertainties in the Chinese territory, said the chief of the city state’s central bank.

“There are more inquiries as you would expect when there’s greater uncertainty in Hong Kong,” Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, told reporters on Thursday, without saying where the queries are coming from. “But actual fund flows are not very large. Flows of activities and businesses are also not significant.”

Hong Kong, which competes with Singapore as a regional financial hub, has suffered setbacks as China tightens its grip on the former British colony through a new security law.

And while tensions between the US and China are fuelling concerns that the city may lose its appeal for international finance and trade, Menon said it still has its attractions.

05:50

What you should know about China's new national security law for Hong Kong

“Security law-related issues are one set of considerations” for businesses in Hong Kong but that is “just one of a whole set of factors in the territory,” Menon said at a briefing on the MAS’s annual report.

“It’s better to compete with a strong financial centre because that means growth and opportunities in the region are good. If things go badly wrong in Hong Kong, that’s not good for the region, and not good for Singapore.”