Banking

The COVID‑19 pandemic resulted in huge disruptions to the global supply chain, leading many businesses – including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the backbone of the world economy – to recalibrate their strategies and shift to a more sustainable approach.

As the centre of gravity for global finance shifts towards Asia-Pacific (APAC), cities in the APAC region in general and China in particular are performing strongly as financial hubs.

The rollout of the giant Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a new trade grouping that stretches from Japan on the fringes of the Arctic to New Zealand on the edge of the Antarctic, is driving optimism on long-term business prospects among enterprises in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).

Banks in Hong Kong are optimistic on their financial performance in 2022 with higher interest rates likely to improve margins, global business consultancy KPMG said in its latest report. Non-interest revenue should also increase as initiatives such as the Cross-Boundary Wealth Management Connect scheme offer new growth opportunities. Paul McSheaffrey, Partner, Financial Services for KPMG China, extracts the key trends, opportunities and challenges identified in the KPMG Hong Kong Banking Outlook 2022 report.

As fintech transforms traditional banking, with all financial institutions becoming fintechs and the metaverse becoming a venue for a parallel banking system, the industry’s talent transformation will need to go beyond swapping pinstripe suits for denim.

The fast-growing and densely populated Asian region is home to half the world’s population and the source of 50% of greenhouse gas emissions, making centrally located Hong Kong a natural base for efforts to counter global warming.