Australia and Hong Kong get it on for fintech innovation
Move closer, move your body real close
The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) have signed a co-operation agreement for financial innovation.
Both parties play up their “already close ties” and the Australia-Hong Kong trade and investment relationship “more broadly”. ASIC says Hong Kong is Australia’s seventh most important destination for services exports, valued at AU$2.4 billion last year, and sixth largest source of services imports, valued at AU$3 billion.
The agreement will enable the SFC and ASIC to refer fintech firms to each other for advice and support via ASIC’s innovation hub and its Hong Kong equivalent, the SFC’s fintech contact point. It also provides a framework for information sharing between the two regulators.
ASIC commissioner Cathie Armour says the deal is a “significant boost for Australia’s burgeoning fintech sector and will ease entry into this important market for innovative Australian businesses”.
This is the fourth fintech referral agreement ASIC has entered into, following on from agreements with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority and Ontario Securities Commission.
In addition, ASIC has sealed information-sharing agreements with the Capital Markets Authority in Kenya and Otoritas Jasa Keuangan in Indonesia.
