Wealth Connect 3.0: HKMA chief promises upgrades to boost appeal
The
Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is preparing to kickstart 'Wealth Connect 3.0', an enhancement of the cross-border mechanism for wealth-management products that would raise quotas and expand the product menu, according to its chief executive Eddie Yue Wai-man.
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The upgrade would also potentially expand the scheme to investors in regions of mainland China beyond the
Greater Bay Area , Yue said at the HSBC Global Investment Summit in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
'There's a lot of wealth accumulated in China, both for households, institutions and corporates, and they have a big need for diversification,' he said.
The Wealth Management Connect scheme has undergone rounds of enhancements since its launch in 2021. While it allows investors in the bay area – Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in southern Guangdong province – to buy wealth-management products across borders, it has drawn criticism for its restrictions and
limited response
Yue said the current version of the scheme was 'still in a pilot period' and acknowledged that eligibility barriers, limited investment products and a cumbersome selling process have held back adoption.
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'We are already talking about 3.0 in terms of both the quota eligibility, product suite and importantly, the selling process,' Yue said. 'And we will also explore whether it is possible to even extend the scheme geographically to other parts of China, not just the Greater Bay Area, which is the pilot area.'
In February 2024, authorities tripled the individual investment quota to 3 million yuan (US$412,956) and added yuan-denominated deposit products of mainland banks and other fund choices to the menu. The move was dubbed Wealth Connect 2.0.
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