Standard Chartered eyes cross-border trade between Hong Kong, Asia, Middle East

Standard Chartered will continue to tap opportunities arising from the growth in cross border transactions and trade for its clients in Hong Kong, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, according to the head of the lender’s Hong Kong office.

Among its latest moves, Standard Chartered’s Hong Kong CEO Mary Huen Wai-yi signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with three corporate customers during her visit to Vietnam last week.

Two of the MOUs were with Hong Kong companies that want help in setting up manufacturing in Vietnam, while the other was for a Vietnamese company that wants to expand in the Greater Bay Area, which integrates Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in southern China into an economic powerhouse, Huen said in a media briefing on Wednesday ahead of her departure to Vietnam.

“We have found that many of our Hong Kong corporate customers want to expand in the Asean countries, with Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand being the most popular ones, while some are also exploring opportunities in Cambodia, Laos, and others,” Huen said.

“Likewise, we also found that many Asean companies want us to help them develop in the Greater Bay Area. Hong Kong, as a superconnector between China and the world, will be the best gateway for these companies to enter into the mainland markets.”

Huen was part of a delegation led by the city’s Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, who toured three Southeast Asian countries – Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam – to promote trade and investments between Hong Kong and these countries. Huen only took part in the Vietnam leg.

“The increase in cross border trade and investments between Asia and the Greater Bay Area is going to be a key growth engine for Standard Chartered,” she said.

The London-headquartered bank, which makes most of its profit from emerging markets, has a presence in 21 Asian markets, including all 10 Asean countries.

In addition to Asia, Standard Chartered has expanded its footprint in the Middle East and Africa by launching branches in Saudi Arabia in mid-2021 and Egypt earlier this year. This is in addition to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where the bank has operated for over a century.

“We have also seen that many of our customers are interested in expanding in the Middle East and Egypt, and we would also like to bring these investors to Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area,” she said.

The strong growth in cross-border transactions is one of the reasons why Standard Chartered’s Hong Kong unit reported a record high first-half pre-tax underlying profit of US$1.2 billion, up 18 per cent year on year.

Huen said the bank’s other growth engine would be the wealth management business, which is why the lender is planning to open its fifth wealth management centre in Hong Kong in December, in the Tsim Sha Tsui area.

The bank already has four centres in the tourist hotspots of K11 Musea in Tsim Sha Tsui, Pacific Place at Admiralty, Lee Garden in Causeway Bay and The Forum at Exchange Square in Central.

In the first half, its net new sales for wealth solutions doubled, as the return of affluent mainland visitors to Hong Kong boosted sales of insurance and other wealth management products, according to Huen.

“The Greater Bay Area and Hong Kong have a lot of millionaires who have a strong demand for wealth management services. Many of them would like to have face-to-face services by experienced bankers in a leisure environment,” she said.

The number of millionaires in Asia, excluding China and Japan, will grow from about 10 million in 2022 to 22 million by 2030, according to a 2022 study by HSBC Global Research.

“We will also invest more in fintech to provide digital tools for these wealthy customers to manage their investments via their mobile phones or other online tools,” Huen said, adding that the bank will hire more relationship managers who are experienced wealth management experts.