The following is issued on behalf of the Financial Services Development Council:

     The Financial Services Development Council (FSDC) today (November 29) released a report entitled "Proposal on the Mainland-Hong Kong Bond Market Connect", which makes recommendations to promote further development of the bond market.

     The Chairman of the FSDC, Mrs Laura M Cha, said, "The bond market in Hong Kong has ample potential for growth. Following the connection between the Mainland and Hong Kong on the stock market, there is room for Hong Kong to further capitalise on the opportunities brought about by the connection in the bond market between the two places.

     "The report examines the development of bond markets in both the Mainland and Hong Kong, and provides recommendations on how we can best get prepared for the potential collaboration between the two markets."

     The report studies the possibility of establishing a linkage between the bond markets in the Mainland of China and Hong Kong for retail investors. The paper recommends a mechanism to allow mutual market access for both Mainland and Hong Kong retail investors to each other's bond market, both over-the-counter and exchange-traded. For the over-the-counter bond market, trading can be effected through opening and maintaining a special trading account with designated banks by the investors. For the exchange-traded bond market, arrangements similar to those under the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect scheme can be applied.

     The full version of the report can be downloaded from the FSDC website: www.fsdc.org.hk.

About the FSDC

     The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government established the FSDC in 2013 as a high-level, cross-sectoral advisory body to engage the industry in formulating proposals to promote the further development of Hong Kong's financial services industry and to map out the strategic direction for development.

     The FSDC has set up five committees, namely the Policy Research Committee, the Mainland Opportunities Committee, the New Business Committee, the Market Development Committee and the Human Capital Committee.

Ends/Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Issued at HKT 16:10

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