One initiative is to establish an exchange programme for private wealth management practitioners of their respective members to develop an in-depth understanding of private banking practices in each jurisdictions, according to a joint statement by Hong Kong’s Private Wealth Management Association and Swiss Bankers Association.
A working group will be set up to confirm the details of the programme, according to the statement, but a timeline was not provided.
In addition, the PWMA and SBA will jointly organise the Hong Kong-Swiss financial seminar this year, which will coincide with the PWMA’s annual wealth management summit in September, according to Peter Stein, PWMA’s managing director. The seminar will complement the financial dialogue between Swiss and Hong Kong authorities and will provide a platform for an open exchange of views and technical expertise in different current issues.
“Concerted efforts of the two associations will further foster sustainable growth and development of the Hong Kong and Swiss private wealth management industry, helping financial institutions capitalise opportunities driven by the tremendous wealth creation in Asia and other parts of the world,” PWMA chairman Lo, who is also the country head at UBS Hong Kong, said in the statement.
The PWMA has made several initiatives last year to further develop Hong Kong’s wealth management industry. For example, it has adopted a charter that aims to treat private wealth management customers fairly. The charter was developed through the joint efforts of the association and the HKMA.
It also launched a pilot apprenticeship programme together with the HKMA, for 20 full-time students. The programme involves two rounds of paid summer internships (six weeks in 2017 and eight weeks in 2018) at wealth management institutions.
Talent development was one of the focus of the association, together with close interactions with the regulators, particularly with Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission and the HKMA, the association said previously.
Three agreements
A broad memorandum of understanding was signed by Norman Chan, Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s (HKMA) CEO, and Jörg Gasser, head of the Swiss State Secretariat for International Financial Matters, according to a HKMA statement.
It serves as a basis for regular financial dialogue and sets out the parties’ willingness to strengthen financial markets cooperation, including the areas of wealth management, renminbi internationalisation, infrastructure financing and international financial matters.
A second wealth management collaboration MoU was signed by PWMA’s Lo and Herbert Scheidt, chairman of the SBA. PWMA is an independent Hong Kong-based industry association established in 2013, having 44 corporate members with a nine-member executive committee, while the SBA has 300 member institutions with 12,000 individual members.
A third agreement was signed yesterday by the HKMA and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma) to enhance fintech collaboration, according to the HKMA statement.
