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The Inaugural Report on the HK Trust Industry
The Inaugural Report on the HK Trust Industry (Traditional Chinese version)
This is the Hong Kong Trust Industry Report – A Cross Sector Perspective (香港信託行業 - 跨行業透視) (June 2013) jointly released by HKTA / KPMG on 17 July 2013.
The inaugural report on the Hong Kong trust industry, jointly prepared by KPMG and HKTA, titled “Hong Kong Trust Industry – a Cross-sector Perspective”, serves to give an overview of HK’s diverse and dynamic trust market, supported by an independent KPMG survey of industry players, highlight the key issues, opportunities and challenges for the industry. The sectors covered include pension schemes, retail funds/corporate trustees, private trusts for wealth and estate planning, and charitable trusts.
The report (copy attached) has just been formally launched with a press briefing to targeted media groups this afternoon. The press release was as follows:
Compliance and regulations among key priorities for Hong Kong’s trust industry, finds a joint report by KPMG and the Hong Kong Trustees’ Association
17July 2013
Compliance, regulations and increasing trust assets are among key priorities for Hong Kong’s trust industry, according to a joint inaugural report, titled Hong Kong Trust Industry - A Cross-Sector Perspective,by KPMG and the Hong Kong Trustees’ Association (HKTA).
The trust industry covers a wide spectrum of financial services including MPF schemes, exchange traded funds (ETFs) and other types of retail funds, private trusts for wealth and estate planning, and charitable trusts.
“The objective of the report is to give an overview of Hong Kong’s diverse and dynamic trust market, supported by an independent KPMG survey of industry players, and highlight the key issues, opportunities and challenges for the industry,”says Ms Ka Shi Lau, BBS, Chairwoman of HKTA.
Key findings:
- More than half (55 percent) of the survey respondents said increasing trust assets was their first priority in the next 12 to 18 months, followed by compliance and regulations (42 percent) and cost management (40 percent).
- In terms of regulatory challenges, the U.S. tax law, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) topped the list with 28 percent of the respondents indicating this was a concern; anti-money laundering was rated second (22 percent), followed by MPFA regulations (16 percent) and the Hong Kong Trustee Ordinance (12 percent).
- Talent shortage was indicated as another challenge facing the industry. Respondents said a lack of critical business knowledge was a major staffing issue (28 percent), while salary and compensation pressures, high turnover of staff and lack of succession planning were viewed as additional challenges.
Ms Vivian Chui, Partner, KPMG China, says: “The trust industry in Hong Kong faces a number of challenges, including ongoing competition from Singapore, and other offshore jurisdictions. However, there is optimism about the future of the sector with the expectations that Hong Kong will see growth as an investment management centre; the trust industry will therefore play a key part.”
While respondents confirmed they are likely to be affected by local and global regulations, they also acknowledged the importance of regulations in fostering confidence in the industry, the report notes. Some indicated that enhancing the local regulatory environment is necessary for Hong Kong in order to retain its position as a leading trust jurisdiction.
Around one-third of the respondents indicated they have used Hong Kong as a trust jurisdiction, while others have opted for more traditional offshore jurisdictions, such as the British Virgin Islands (13 percent), Cayman Islands (14 percent), Jersey (10 percent), and Bermuda (4 percent). The survey notes that the key factors determining the choice of location include customer preference, tax effectiveness and legacy reasons.
With the aims to facilitate modern trust administration and attract more trust business to Hong Kong, the government has proposed amendments to the Hong Kong Trustee Ordinance (HKTO )which was just passed by the Legislative Council today. Half of the survey respondents said they are optimistic these amendments will encourage future growth in the local trust industry.
Ms Chui concludes: “In the medium and long term, the operating environment of the industry is characterized by emerging opportunities, intensifying competition with local and global players, and increasing expectations from clients and regulators. At the same time, industry players are anticipating the benefits from the forthcoming policy initiatives, including HKTO reform, and mutual recognition of funds by mainland China and Hong Kong.”
Ms Lau adds: “Hong Kong presents itself as a world city and a major financial services centre, yet there has been limited focus placed in highlighting its role as a trust and fund services centre. It is therefore critical that the Hong Kong government pursues a long-term vision and policy on developing and promoting the trust industry and creating an enabling environment to foster business growth. The HKTO Amendment Bill legislation passed today will firmly place Hong Kong as a modern trust jurisdiction and further cement its position as a truly world-class financial services centre in all aspects.”
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About KPMG:
KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. We operate in 156 countries and have 152,000 people working in member firms around the world. The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such.
KPMG China has 13 offices (including KPMG Advisory (China) Limited) in Beijing, Shenyang, Qingdao, Shanghai, Nanjing, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macau, with around 9,000 professionals.
About the Hong Kong Trustees’ Association (HKTA):
The HKTA, established in 1991 to represent the trust and fiduciary services industry in Hong Kong, currently has around 100 members, representing thousands of professionals working in the trust, wealth management, custody and fund services, legal and accounting fields as well as company and corporate consultancy services.
The HKTA works closely with various stakeholders to promote high standards of professionalism and corporate governance. It is an important representative body that deals with the government and regulators to steer the direction of the trust and fiduciary industry, with active particpation in initiatives including the trust law reform, the review of the MPF system, the impact of FATCA and the formulation of Best Practice Guides to raise the standards and credibility of Hong Kong Trust practitioners, and in ensuring Hong Kong maintains its long-standing position as a reputable international trust, fund and fiduciary services centre.
Media contacts
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Nina Mehra Head of Media, KPMG China Tel: +852 2140 2824 Mobile: +852 9724 6092
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For Ms Ka Shi Lau, BBS: Kimsten Law Tel: +852 2298 9749 Email: [email protected]
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