HSBC Photo: IC

 
Peter Wong Tung Shun, deputy chairman and chief executive of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) proposed a cross-border credit system that connects Chinese mainland and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to facilitate mobility within that area.

According to the proposal sent to Global Times on Thursday, people from Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions can apply for financial services with institutions in Chinese mainland with their credit record from their own regional market. The proposal will meet the increasing demand for people from Hong Kong and Macao to work in the mainland. 

Several cities, including Hong Kong and some mainland cities, have introduced policies encouraging young people from Hong Kong and Macao to work in the Greater Bay Area. The latest policy by Hong Kong was introduced in January. 

Wong also proposes a mutual recognition system in the Greater Bay Area, which acknowledges the professional licenses of people working in the financial sector. The process of mutual recognition has already been initiated in the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) signed back in 2003. 

Apart from the mobility of talent in the Greater Bay Area, Wong's proposal also includes a more flexible and integrated system for financial institutions to operate. 

According to Wong's proposal, a unified and integrated system should be established in the Greater Bay Area when it comes to recognizing financial institutions' licenses and qualifications, so that the institutions can provide cross-border financial services without special applications. 

Wong also proposes a more transparent "expected legal environment" for the Greater Bay Area, including by introducing Hong Kong precedents on contracts, applying Hong Kong's precedents into local financial regulations in the Greater Bay Area. 

Global Times