Page 11 - Building a Treasury Centre for Sustainable Growth

Banking & Financial Markets

Banking capabilities of Singapore and Hong Kong SAR are comparable. Hong Kong SAR has a
stronger capital market which provides easier funding in the equity market, whereas Singapore
has a higher share of global foreign exchange (FX) turnover, providing better liquidity for RTCs.

SINGAPORE HONG KONG SAR

BANKING CAPABILITIES

The Global Financial 5 th 4 th
Centres Index 1

4 local banks,
161 licensed banks and
Number of banks 2 127 foreign banks and 16 restricted licence banks
21 merchant banks

FINANCIAL MARKET EFFICIENCY

Market capitalisation 3 US$697 billion US$5 trillion

7.7% 7.6%
Share of global FX turnover 4
(US$640 billion, 3 globally) (US$632 billion, 4 globally)
rd
th
Estimated FDI inflows US$91 billion US$119 billion
5

Preferred location for each category

Sources:
1 The Global Financial Centres Index 29, March 2021, published by
Long Finance And Financial Centre Futures and produced by Z/Yen in
partnership with CDI
² Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) (information extracted on 12
May 2021), and Hong Kong Monetary Authority 2020 Annual Report (as
at 31 December 2020)
³ The World Bank Data, Market Capitalisation of listed domestic
companies (current US$)
4 2019 Triennial Central Bank Survey of the global FX and over-the-
counter (OTC) derivatives markets conducted by the Bank for
International Settlements (BIS)
5 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) World
Investment Report 2021

Building a Treasury Centre for Sustainable Growth 9