Hong Kong financial hub gets boost from new tax breaks, gold clearing system
Hong Kong's Financial Development Bureau outlined its 2025-2027 work plan, including policy research on asset management and fintech. The government announced tax incentives for funds and family offices, a gold clearing system, and a youth internship scheme to bolster the city's financial sector.
Hong Kong's Deputy Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, addressing the Legislative Council's Financial Affairs Committee on 6 November 2026, highlighted the Financial Development Bureau's (FDB) work over the past year in policy research, market promotion and talent cultivation to support the government's goal of strengthening the city as an international financial centre.
For the 2025-26 period, the FDB focused research on asset and wealth management, capital market development, and green and sustainable finance. In 2026-27, research will centre on four topics: financial opportunities from evolving trade and investment, financial technology innovation, capital market development, and wealth management. The government said it has been following up on the FDB's policy recommendations to inject new momentum into the financial industry.
Specific government measures announced include further optimisation of tax incentives for funds, single-family offices and carried interest. The scope of tax exemption will be expanded to cover large single-investor funds and more qualifying investments such as loans, private debt investments, digital assets and precious metals. The amendments are expected to take effect from the 2025-26 tax year after legislative approval. To boost real estate investment trust (REIT) development, a bill will be tabled this month to facilitate privatisation or restructuring, with a further bill planned for the first half of 2027 to provide stamp duty exemptions for REITs transferring non-residential properties before listing.
The government is also developing Hong Kong's commodities market, starting with gold. A gold central clearing and settlement system began trial operations in July 2026 with positive market feedback and is scheduled for full launch in the first quarter of 2027. A joint working group on commodities trading, led by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, held its first meeting in September to review market opportunities and cross-exchange collaboration.
In market promotion, the FDB signed memorandums of understanding with domestic and overseas partners, launched a global marketing video series that garnered over 50 million views, and organised market development cooperation programmes inviting stakeholders from ASEAN and the Middle East to Hong Kong. For talent development, the FDB continued its annual Talent Day event and, as announced in the 2026 Policy Address, will launch a two-year youth internship programme offering 1,000 positions in financial services in partnership with the industry.
The Hong Kong Wealth Heritage Institute, established under the FDB, advanced work on six 'heritage development goals'. It coordinated family donations for public art installations through its Impact Link (iLink) project and launched an online portal connecting dozens of families with charitable projects. The institute also organised overseas exchanges for younger family members on governance, succession planning and long-term capital deployment. The government said it would continue to support the FDB and the institute as Hong Kong moves from being a 'financial city' to a 'finance-enabled city'.