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

     The Financial Services Development Council (FSDC) and the Open University of Hong Kong today (November 22) jointly hosted a forum to look into corporate governance in Hong Kong and the bountiful opportunities under the Belt and Road Initiative.
 
     Today's forum, which was the 14th event under the FSDC Practitioner Speakers Series, featured Partner of Davis Polk & Wardwell Ms Bonnie Chan and the Asia Pacific Tax Leader, Financial Services of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Mrs Florence Yip. Both serve as Council Members of the FSDC.

     During the forum, entitled "How Much Do You Know about Corporate Governance, Responsible Investment and Belt and Road Opportunities?", Ms Chan took a serious look at the development of corporate governance in Hong Kong. She has extensive practical experience in advising issuers and underwriters on capital markets transactions, as well as advising on securities, corporate and governance matters. She said, "It has been commented by many that the culture of responsible corporate practices in Hong Kong has yet to truly set in. Meanwhile, more institutional investors are taking a stronger corporate governance focus and have adopted responsible investment policies."
 
     Mrs Yip, who acts as a tax advisor to initial public offerings and mergers and acquisitions involving banks, insurance companies and fund managers, encouraged young talents to get prepared for the multi-faceted opportunities under the Belt and Road Initiative. She said, "Over the next 10 years, it is expected to mobilise US$8 trillion to US$10 trillion in infrastructure spending. In fact, the current projects have already exceeded US$150 billion." She also said she believed that the Belt and Road Initiative presents a big opportunity for Hong Kong's economy, leveraging on Hong Kong's strengths as a financial services hub, professional services hub and trade hub. 
 
     The FSDC's Practitioner Speaker Series is a project developed between the FSDC and local universities, with speakers from the financial services industry giving talks to university students about important industry facts and the skill sets required in developing a career in financial services.

About 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 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, as the five streams of its work.
 

Ends/Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Issued at HKT 17:43

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