Finance sector lawmaker Ronick Chan said on Wednesday that he thinks some roles at certain local banks have been replaced by artificial intelligence but the sector's future remains very bright.

On Hang Seng Bank's recent job cuts of around one percent of its core business employees, Chan said the local banking sector has been facing many challenges, such as falling property prices.

Speaking to RTHK, Chan said inevitably, some lower-level roles have gone, such as those related to handling documents.

He said the sector will need to become more high-end and there are still many roles that require financial talent, especially people with knowledge of cross-border workings such as trading schemes connecting stocks and bonds.

"As we all know, we are now integrated into the country's overall development. We hope that our financial services can be extended to the mainland," the lawmaker said.

"We also need talent in sustainable finance. As a leading green finance hub in Asia, we need a lot of talent in areas such as bond issuance and green loans, there's a shortage on this front."

Chan called on the sector's workers to acquire more knowledge of financial technology as well as cross-border finance, so as to raise their competitiveness.