The passage of the national security law in Hong Kong is expected to lead to the flight of capital and talent to neighboring locations, and Taiwan has is preparing to welcome them.
Some U.S. securities firms are considering expanding to Taiwan, while other international banks are mulling new operations there, Financial Supervisory Commission chairman Huang Tien-mu said without naming any companies, «Bloomberg» reported on Monday.
Huang noted positive reactions so far in talks with foreign financial institutions that are considering increasing investments and operations on the island. Foreign banks with the most assets in Taiwan include Citigroup, Standard Chartered and HSBC, the report said, citing financial commission data.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has also expressed sympathy for opponents of the new law, and opened an office earlier this month to facilitate immigration from Hong Kong.
Attracting Talent
The regulator has been pushing financial reform to attract money and talent from around the region, and to bring Taiwan’s financial system in line with international standards, Huang said in an interview with «Reuters» last week.
«We hope to attract not only people or funds from one place. We hope to make Taiwan’s market even more competitive, so it becomes a financial market that gets more attention in Asia,» Huang told «Reuters.»
However, there are other challenges for Taiwan in attracting finance professionals from the territory, namely low pay and high taxes.
More Scrutiny
On Monday, wealth managers in Hong Kong were reportedly stepping up scrutiny of politically exposed persons to ensure no violations against the new legislation that prohibits what Beijing describes broadly as secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.
Under new legislation, authorities now have the ability to seize assets including through new police powers to freeze and confiscate funds and property as well as to obtain information. Banks could also be entangled as supporters of violators and could face penalties such as fines and the suspension or the complete loss of licenses.
