Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui on Sunday said the turbulent Middle East situation brought Hong Kong both challenges and opportunities.

The US-Iran conflict is affecting global energy and capital markets, but the Hong Kong market is operating well, he said.

He added the city could serve as a stable and safe asset management centre for global funds during these turbulent times.

“On the financial services side, the stability, the safety and also sophistication of financial centre is more robust than ever in terms of how we are being viewed internationally and also domestically,” Hui said after a Commercial Radio programme.

“And that's why, against this backdrop, we are proposing measures to strengthen our role as an asset and wealth management centre in the current regime where many investors would like to diversify their investment.”

Meanwhile, the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau has announced it would enhance its regulation of money lenders.

The measures include introducing a debt servicing ratio cap for unsecured personal loans of low-income earners.

“In terms of the overall approach that we take to deal with this money lending regime is that we are applying a rather equivalent requirement, not just the domestic helpers, but everybody with a monthly income below HK$12,000,” he said.

“In this regard, we've applied a ratio which is applicable to the proportion of money on a monthly basis that is needed to repay the debt, at the same time, to make sure that all the lenders in this regime will be able to share information, so that there's no one single individual who would try to borrow from different lenders in such a way of circumventing the requirement.”

He also said many households were being used as referees in their domestic helpers’ lending activities.

“That's why from August 1 this year, we require that no more such requirement can be imposed in lending activities in a sense that no referee will be required in such lending activities with a view to protecting our citizens.”

Hui said authorities would adopt various measures to ensure the stable development of the city's money lender regime.


Edited by Tony Sabine