Hong Kong, Macau link bond clearance systems to create larger market for fundraising

The connection will provide a cross-border investment and financing channel, enabling investors from both markets to participate in each other’s bond market with greater ease and efficiency, the HKMA said.

“The direct linkage showcases Hong Kong’s role as a “superconnector” and represents a major step towards developing the CMU into an international CSD in Asia,” HKMA’s CEO Eddie Yue Wai-man said in a statement.

The linkage, first announced in September, connects the larger Hong Kong market – with US$435 billion of outstanding bonds last year, with the Chongwa (Macao) Financial Asset Exchange, where US$28.1 billion of instruments were issued in 2024.

The linkage is the first external connection for Macau, which opens up the fundraising potential for companies located in the former Portuguese colony, said Benjamin Chan, chairman of the Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM).

“This will provide international investors, including those from Portuguese-speaking countries, with a convenient channel to participate in the bond markets of Macau and Hong Kong,” Chan said in a statement, adding that the development will “further strengthen Macau’s function as the financial services platform serving China and Portuguese speaking countries”.