Legislator Wong Kit Cheng has recently queried the Macau SAR government on the progress of previously revealed plans to establish an international commercial bank in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area.
“Three years have passed since the mainland first suggested the establishment of an international commercial bank in the Greater Bay Area in 2019 until the official investment in the financial budget of Macau in 2022. What exactly was the progress of this plan at this stage?” the legislator noted in a written inquiry.
In 2021 a Legislative Assembly standing committee revealed that the Macau SAR government was planning to allocate MOP2.6 billion (US$323.5 million) into the public investment fund Macao Investment and Development Limited, to establish this joint international commercial bank in the Greater Bay Area.
The bank was to include investment from Macau, Hong Kong, and Guangdong governments, and the financial institution will be headquartered in the Nansha Economic and Technological Development Zone in Guangzhou, with its main focus on three areas: cutting-edge technology, green finance and cross-border finance.
It would also be regulated under Chinese financial law, with future branches to be established in Macau and Hong Kong regulated by local legislation.
According to the legislator, State Council recommendations issued in 2019 on the development of the Guangzhou Nansha Free Trade Zone had already suggested that the establishment of an international commercial bank in the Greater Bay Area would help to promote the construction development and technological innovation in the region.
The legislator also inquired what the specific role this bank will have in financial cooperation between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau and the promotion of the modern financial industry in Macau, including the development of the bond market, green finance, wealth management and finance lease, as well as the SARs development as Sino-Luso Financial Service Platform and Renminbi Clearing Center.
“Since the relevant bank would be jointly funded and cooperated by the governments of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, with a total of RMB20 billion in registered capital, of which Macau accounted for 10 per cent, society and the financial industry were hopeful about the establishment of the bank,” Wong adds.
Inquired on the matter by Macau News Agency, the Monetary Authority of Macau (AMCM) indicated that the project is being “led by the Guangdong side”, with no further information to supplement.
