Hong Kong’s largest family-owned lender said its non-performing loans in mainland China dropped by 0.47 percentage points to 2.68 per cent at the end of 2023 compared with the first half, as its overall exposure to troubled Chinese property developers shrank.
Qianhai’s tax incentives are among measures that have attracted major Hong Kong banks to invest in grade-A office buildings, and to develop a wide range of banking, securities and insurance businesses in the area.
In the third of a four-part series on the Greater Bay Area’s fifth anniversary, we look at how Hong Kong has become the de facto wealth management hub for the wealthy. Enhancements to cross-border payments and investments will only add to the city’s lustre.
Hong Kong banks’ net interest margin – the gap between the rate charged on loans and the interest paid for deposits – widened last year to the fattest in four years at 1.68 per cent, the HKMA’s data showed.
The 18-storey BEA Tower, built at a cost of US$196 million, houses the bank’s Qianhai branch, innovation centre and data lab. The 105-year-old lender is targeting wealth management and fintech in the bay area.