Although there are no signs of disruption to the capital and liquidity status of financial institutions, it is the right time for financial institutions to review and strengthen their risk management initiatives. Due to tight China-US tension, the fact that certain US-listed Mainland enterprises are expected to have secondary listings in Hong Kong provides those firms with a choice in case they are delisted in the US. This may be beneficial to the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and local financial institutions as those Mainland enterprises will require relevant banking and corporate finance services.

Financial institutions should speed up the adoption of technologies to help automate business operations. Market players should also adopt FinTech and relevant technologies to better target different customer segments. Regulatory framework is going to catch up with the advancement in technologies. Regulators have already taken a proactive approach towards regulating virtual assets exchanges. Financial institutions and their partnering FinTech companies should prepare for regulations in related areas. While FinTech is developing at a very fast pace, issues like data privacy and cybersecurity cannot be neglected.

As an international financial centre, Hong Kong should play a proactive role in the country’s domestic circulation and facilitate the dual circulation, allowing domestic and overseas markets to reinforce each other. Being a GBA city, Hong Kong should continue to take the lead to drive financial services for the region. Financial institutions should also take good advantage of the Wealth Management Connect which could mean sources of new revenues to bolster income amid pressure from a long period of low-interest rate environment.

The banking and finance industry undoubtedly has a pivotal role to play in directing funds and investment towards activities having lower carbon emissions with the overall aim to reach net zero by 2050. Public funds alone are unable to meet the exponential growth in the demand for sustainable investment. Actually, ecological civilisation is one of the top priorities in the Mainland. As a resilient financial centre, Hong Kong is well positioned to do more on green and sustainable finance.

During the process of digital transformation and promoting mutual financial markets access in the GBA, a new set of competencies from the workforce is highly demanded. Practitioners need to reskill or upskill themselves in order to keep abreast of the latest development in the banking and finance industry. In order to master the application of emerging technologies, the workforce needs to be tech-savvy. What is more, practitioners should be knowledgeable about regulatory divergence in the GBA, as well as green and sustainable finance. Last but not least, soft skills like adaptability, agility, customer connection skills, etc. are always needed.