Hong Kong and Malaysia strengthen ties to boost Islamic finance, trade and investment - IFN

Hong Kong and Malaysia strengthen ties to boost Islamic finance, trade and investment

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GLOBAL: On the heels of the recent amendments to its regulations to accommodate Islamic finance, Hong Kong recently conducted a bilateral exchange of ideas with its Malaysian counterpart – Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) in Kuala Lumpur. Hong Kong, in July this year, announced amendments to its Inland Revenue Ordinance and Stamp Duty Ordinance to provide comparable taxation framework for common types of Sukuk. This is seen as a significant step forward towards facilitating the Islamic finance infrastructure in the island. The meeting with BNM further strengthens co-operation with Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) in the areas of trade and investments in addition to promoting Islamic finance. Both the regulators have assured continued support to their financial and private sector players to collaborate and reinforce relations. These will be initiated by setting up a private sector-led joint forum in promoting Islamic finance in Hong Kong which will capitalize potential areas of development and synergize their competencies. The first of the joint forums is expected to be held in Hong Kong later this year. The meeting also discussed an impetus to the offshore renminbi business initiatives. Commenting on the occasion the governor of BNM, Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said: “Today’s discussions reflect the commitment of both BNM and the HKMA towards deepening our already strong bilateral ties. We will work together to create a conducive ecosystem which will further facilitate deeper and expanded economic activity between Malaysia and Hong Kong.” The CEO of the HKMA, Norman Chan, also echoed similar thoughts and stated: “I am pleased to be able to strengthen our collaboration with BNM on a number of bilateral initiatives that help promote the financial market development in Malaysia and Hong Kong. I trust our collaboration will continue to be fruitful and bring about a win-win situation for both of us.” Earlier, both the countries had signed an MoU in the areas of capacity building and human capital development; development of an effective financial market infrastructure and promoting cross-border financial activities through harmonization of standards and documentation relating to Islamic finance transactions.