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Anyone from ‘man in the street’ to wealthy heir can set up family office in Hong Kong if money is legitimate, John Lee says
- Chief executive encourages efforts to bring in family offices, after UAE prince entered media spotlight over delayed launch plan
- ‘We will do our best to invite as many to come, and provided that the money is legitimate money, we welcome it,’ John Lee says
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Hong Kong welcomes the “man in the street” to set up a family office as long as the money is legitimate, the city’s leader has said amid recent controversy over a Dubai prince’s commitment to investing in the international finance hub.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu also stressed on Tuesday that the city must avoid being passive in its efforts to attract “super-valued” asset owners to set up family offices, as many locations were competing to attract such business.
“They create very strong positive economic and financial benefits to the city,” he said in response to a question from the Post before his weekly Executive Council meeting. “We will do our best to invite as many to come, and provided that the money is legitimate money, we welcome it, whether he is a man in the street or he comes from a wealthy family or it is a sovereignty fund.”
Sheikh Ali Rashed Ali Saeed Al Maktoum was thrust into the media spotlight in recent weeks after he pledged to open a US$500 million family office in Hong Kong. The prince was at first reported to be a nephew of Dubai’s ruler and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, but he was later identified as a member of a distant family branch.
He attracted further public attention when he called off the inauguration ceremony for the office at the eleventh hour, which sparked questions about his commitment to the investment.
The Post also reported that Maktoum had an alter ego as a singer-songwriter known as Alira, who was popular in the Philippines, before he began shifting from a performer to a sustainability focused investor last year. During a second visit to the city last month, he spoke at a session of the Wealth for Good in Hong Kong summit.
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