Paul Chan says Hong Kong will improve tax breaks, step up charm offensive to attract more foreign funds and family offices

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Pleased to see the government’s commitment to further supporting the development of the family office industry: Raffles Family Office group CEO and co-founder Chi-man Kwan

City will organise conferences to reinforce ‘branding’, and the government will continue its tours of other markets to ‘expand our circle of friends’, Chan says

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The government hopes to improve Hong Kong’s image as a financial centre by hosting more conferences such as the Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit last November and the Asian Financial Forum last month. Photo: Elson Li

Mia Castagnone

Published: 8:15pm, 28 Feb 2024

Hong Kong will enhance several measures aimed at attracting foreign funds and family offices, and host more financial conferences to improve the city’s “branding” and economic appeal, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said.

“We will further enhance the preferential tax regimes for related funds, single family offices and carried interest, including reviewing the scope of the tax concessions regime,” Chan said during his budget announcement on Wednesday.

The city is set to increase the types of transactions that qualify for tax concessions and will enhance the flexibility in handling incidental transactions, with the aim of attracting more funds and family offices to establish a presence in Hong Kong, Chan said.

The announcement comes as the government prepares for its second Wealth for Good summit in Hong Kong at the end of March. The city has invited family offices and wealth managers from across the globe to a two-day conference to showcase its advantages.

Shortly after last year’s summit, Hong Kong announced a range of incentives for family offices, including a tax break in May and the launch of the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES), an investment-migration scheme, in December.

“For the family office industry, we are pleased to see the government’s commitment to further supporting its development, [which is] evident in measures such as further enhancing the preferential tax regime for single family offices,” said Chi-man Kwan, group CEO and co-founder of Raffles Family Office.