GBA | Cross-boundary wealth management

The landmark Wealth Management Connect (WMC) pilot program in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) saw solid results on its first day of operations this week, with strong demand for cross-boundary wealth management products, marking another crucial development in the ever-closer financial cooperation in the GBA, Global Times has reported.
The WMC was first announced in September to allow individual investors on the mainland and the Hong Kong and Macau special administrative regions (SARs) to make cross-boundary investments in a wider range of wealth management products.
The program, which consists of the Southbound program and the Northbound program, made its debut on Tuesday, with 41 transactions totaling around 2.5 million yuan ($391,132) completed under the Northbound program within one hour after operations started, according to media reports.
Under the Southbound program, 115 investment accounts made eight transactions totaling 398,000 yuan within one hour. Transactions were seen in nine mainland cities and the two SARs within one hour.
Analysts quoted by Global Times stressed that the WMC will further expand the two-way opening-up of financial markets, while boosting financial cooperation in the GBA.
The launch showcases that the mainland has been promoting and diversifying channels for the opening-up of its financial market, Xi Junyang, a professor at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, told the Global Times. MDT