Latest news with #EddieYueWai-man
South China Morning Post
06-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong's Exchange Fund posts US$8.7 billion gain amid stock market rally
Hong Kong's Exchange Fund, the war chest used to defend the local currency, reported an investment gain of HK$67.2 billion (US$8.7 billion) in the first quarter, thanks to stock market rallies in the city and overseas. Advertisement In the year-earlier period, the fund posted a gain of HK$62.3 billion, though in the final quarter of 2024, it recorded a loss of HK$20.1 billion, according to data from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) on Tuesday. Over the course of the quarter, the benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 15 per cent as Chinese stocks soared after artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek rolled out its low-cost, high-performance models. The Exchange Fund, however, was expected to face a number of uncertainties for the rest of the year, after the US' tariff policies triggered market turmoil in April. 'The US tariff policy has created a lot of market uncertainties since early April, but we continue to see capital inflow to Hong Kong stock markets for the many upcoming new listings,' said the de facto central bank's chief executive, Eddie Yue Wai-man, during his quarterly meeting with lawmakers on Tuesday. Advertisement The fund's total assets stood at HK$3.98 trillion at the end of March, a HK$46 billion decrease from the end of last year.
South China Morning Post
28-04-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
HKMA to help banks assess firms for trade financing by using cargo data
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has launched a new initiative that will use cargo logistics data to help banks assess companies for trade financing amid escalating global worries about tariffs. Advertisement The initiative, called CargoX, would expand data sets and applications in the de facto central bank's electronic platform – the Commercial Data Interchange (CDI) – in an effort to make trade financing more readily available to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the HKMA said on Monday. The move would help SMEs cope with 'the current complex international trade situation', it said. Around a quarter of Hong Kong's SMEs are involved in import-export trade and wholesale businesses, the HKMA said. 'In today's complex global trade landscape, many businesses, in particular SME traders, need more digitalised and efficient trade finance solutions to transform their business models and supply chains,' HKMA chief executive Eddie Yue Wai-man said. 'Leveraging cargo data and our next-generation CDI data infrastructure, CargoX will help resolve some long-standing pain points in trade finance for banks, ultimately boosting efficiency and driving industry-wide innovation.' The CargoX programme will securely share sea, road and air cargo logistics data – with the consent of the companies involved – so that banks can more accurately evaluate their corporate lending. Advertisement
South China Morning Post
31-03-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
JD Industrials, Unisound AI revive Hong Kong IPOs as Chinese listings accelerate
E-commerce giant industrial unit could raise US$500 million to US$1 billion from its third attempt to list in Hong Kong amid improved sentiment in the city's stock market, according to a source with knowledge of the matter. Advertisement JD Industrials and another Chinese firm, Unisound AI Technology, resubmitted their initial public offering (IPO) applications to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Sunday. They did not disclose their fundraising expectations, according to separate filings. It was Unisound's third application. The firms' previous Hong Kong listing plans, in 2023 and 2024, respectively, lapsed due to unfavourable market conditions and valuation mismatches. They are now betting on the city's revitalised IPO market this year, driven by regulatory support for Chinese firms to list in Hong Kong and optimism in the technology sector following breakthroughs by Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek The reopening of the pathway for Chinese listings was 'important in driving sentiment', Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Eddie Yue Wai-man said during a conference last week . 'We've got another 100 applications in the pipeline,' he added. JD Industrials, established in 2017, is China's largest industrial supply chain technology and service provider by gross merchandise value (GMV). It is nearly three times the size of its closest competitor, according to China Insights Consultancy. Advertisement Its GMV rose to 28.8 billion yuan (US$4 billion) in 2024 from 22.3 billion yuan in 2022, representing a compound annual growth rate of 13.5 per cent. It also turned around the business by logging a net profit of 761.6 million yuan last year from a net loss of 1.3 billion yuan in 2022. In March 2023, said it would spin off its property and industrial units and list them in Hong Kong. Around that time, a group of investors including Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, Abu Dhabi fund 42XFund, asset manager M&G, private equity firm BPEA EQT and Chinese venture capital firm HongShan put a total of US$300 million into JD Industrials via series B preferred share financing.
South China Morning Post
26-03-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
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. Advertisement 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. Advertisement '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.
South China Morning Post
27-01-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong's Exchange Fund reports fifth-best return despite fourth-quarter loss
The Exchange Fund, Hong Kong's financial war chest for defending the currency peg, reported a loss for the fourth quarter because of falling bond prices and a valuation loss on non-US dollar assets. For the full year, the fund reported its fifth-best annual return, as a diversified investment approach paid off. The investment return in 2024 fell 3 per cent year on year to HK$219 billion (US$28 billion), the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said on Monday. The Exchange Fund reported its best-ever results for the first nine months of 2024, but that was offset by a loss of HK$20.1 billion in the fourth quarter, ending four consecutive profitable quarters. In the October to December period, Hong Kong equities lost HK$6.7 billion, while foreign exchange valuation loss reached HK$27.4 billion, offsetting a gain of HK$11.3 billion in bonds and HK$2.7 billion in overseas equities. The weak performance of the stock markets in the fourth quarter and falling bond prices affected the performance of the Exchange Fund, Eddie Yue Wai-man, CEO of HKMA, said at a media briefing. A stronger US dollar also affected the fund's returns, he added. Hong Kong Monetary Authority CEO Eddie Yue said many factors affected the Exchange Fund's performance in the fourth quarter. Photo: Jonathan Wong The Exchange Fund's total assets increased by HK$65.9 billion to HK$4.082 trillion at the end of last year.
