The regulators of Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia will explore ways to cross-list exchange traded funds (ETFs) and foster two-way fund flows, according to the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC).
The SFC said on Monday that it was looking into the possibility of signing a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) following a visit by CEO Julia Leung Fung-yee and executive director Christina Choi last week. The trip included stops in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Leung and Choi held separate meetings with CMA chairman Mohammed bin Abdullah Elkuwaiz, commissioner Abdulaziz Abdulohsen bin Hasan and executives of bourse operator Saudi Tadawul Group on Sunday.
“We look forward to enhancing regional market connectivity with our regulatory counterparts and stakeholders in Saudi Arabia and the UAE,” Leung said in the statement.
There is an opportunity to deepen mutual understanding between “our respective financial markets and explore the role of Hong Kong in bridging two-way capital flow between mainland China and these two jurisdictions”, she added.
The SFC and the CMA also discussed ways to strengthen collaboration in financial services and facilitate measures to cross-list ETFs.
An ETF that tracks Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index is in the works, Michael Wong Wai-lun, the city’s deputy financial secretary, said in May. Once ready, the ETF will be listed on the Tadawul exchange in Riyadh, giving Middle East investors exposure to markets in China and Hong Kong.
This was preceded by the CSOP Saudi Arabia ETF, which listed in Hong Kong in November. The ETF tracks 56 Middle East stocks, including the world’s biggest company Saudi Aramco, and has risen 4.6 per cent since.
The ETF and a series of financial collaborations between Hong Kong and Riyadh come after Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu visited the Gulf nation in February 2023.
Hot on the heels of that visit, bourse operators Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing and Tadawul agreed to work together in fintech, cross-listings and environment, sustainability and governance disclosure standards.
Hong Kong Monetary Authority CEO Eddie Yue Wai-man has also led banking delegations to the Middle East several times since last year, one of which resulted in an accord with the Saudi central bank.
On their recent trip, Leung and Choi met Emmanuel Givanakis, CEO of the regulator of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), an international financial centre and free zone in the UAE’s capital. They discussed ways to expand collaboration between the two sides on asset management.
The SFC has published guidelines on its website to introduce ADGM to explain how Hong Kong funds could be offered to investors in the UAE via a fund passporting regime.