HK, China Enhance Financial Market Cooperation

by Mary Swire, LawAndTax-News.com, Hong Kong

03 May 2011

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has announced that Mainland China’s National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors (NAFMII) and Hong Kong’s Treasury Markets Association (TMA) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a formal bilateral co-operative relationship.

NAFMII is a self-regulation organization formed voluntarily by China’s market practitioners. Since its establishment in 2007, NAFMII has established rules and provided guidance for the interbank market on the Mainland, and has introduced initiatives including the launch of innovative products such as medium-term notes and tools for diversifying and sharing credit risk.

TMA was formed by a merger of the previous Treasury Markets Forum of Hong Kong with the ACI-The Financial Markets Association of Hong Kong. TMA develops appropriate codes and standards for the treasury markets, promotes market and product development, enhances the professionalism of market practitioners, and promotes the profile of Hong Kong as a hub for treasury market businesses in the Asia-Pacific region.

The signing of the MOU therefore provides a platform on which market practitioners from the Mainland and Hong Kong can interact, paving the way for the members of the two organizations to establish a comprehensive, co-operative relationship and to contribute to the mutual development of the financial markets of the Mainland and Hong Kong. Through the MOU, the NAFMII and the TMA have agreed to strengthen co-operation in a wide range of areas such as market development, establishment of codes, research, visits, exchanges and training.

It was pointed out that the financial markets of the Mainland and Hong Kong are becoming increasingly closely linked with each other amid the continuous expansion of the use of the renminbi outside the Mainland and the internationalization of the Mainland’s financial markets. Market practitioners of the two markets are keen to learn more about and participate more within the other market.

Shi Wenchao, Secretary-General of NAFMII, said that: “The co-operation between NAFMII and TMA is like a cord uniting the financial markets of the Mainland and Hong Kong. We will continue to listen to the views of the market practitioners and learn about their needs, working together to further improve and strengthen this cord to suit the needs of the market practitioners and to contribute to the interaction and co-operation of the financial markets of the Mainland and Hong Kong”.

Eddie Yue, Deputy Chief Executive of HKMA and Chairman of the Executive Board of TMA, added that: “I look forward to NAFMII and TMA building upon this MOU to further promote co-operation between the financial markets of the Mainland and Hong Kong on business development, professional training, establishment of codes and experience sharing”.

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