China ** Daily reporter Mo Lin, February 26. Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect 20", including Bank of China Hong Kong, ICBC (Asia) and other banks, have launched a wave of publicity on WeChat***, hoping to attract eligible Southbound customers to participate. The reporter noticed that in order to attract Southbound users, many banks have launched RMB deposit discounts of up to 6%, and the purchase of wealth management products will also receive a number of luxury gifts such as ** and cash returns. Mr Lam Yuen Tung, Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank GBA, said that since the launch of the WMC, Standard Chartered customers have responded enthusiastically, with a steady increase in the number of participants and the amount of remittance, demonstrating the keen demand from residents in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area for high-quality banking services and diversified asset allocation solutions. The Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect is of great significance in promoting mutual access to financial markets in the Greater Bay Area and enhancing the two-way opening up of the Mainland's financial markets0, to further promote the growth of wealth management business in the Greater Bay Area. According to the reporter's understanding, up to now, the "Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect" has been filed with 32 mainland banks, 24 Hong Kong banks and 10 Macao banks. Previously, it participated in the pilot "Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect 10" of banks have doubled in terms of the number of accounts opened and the transfer of assets. The Hong Kong subsidiaries of many brokerages are in the process of applying for a pilot program with their parent companies in the mainland, and are currently awaiting regulatory approvals and are currently upgrading their apps. RMB deposits, up to 6! Banks are starting to do their best workOn 26 February, a wave of publicity by BOCHK attracted heated discussions among mainland investors. It is understood that the Bank of China Hong Kong "Cross-border Wealth Management Connect 20"The number of Southbound products has increased by more than 60% to more than 270, which can be used to invest in different markets and asset classes around the world. In terms of preferential offers, BOCHK offers eligible customers a RMB fixed deposit interest rate of up to 6% p.a., a variety of ** and cash rewards, as well as an additional 0% subscription fee for Southbound investment products. 
It is worth noting that the maximum 6% RMB deposit is only a one-month deposit tenor, while the one-year RMB deposit is reduced to 3%, and it is clear that the short-term high deposit rate is only to attract Southbound customers to open an account. The deposit interest rates for HKD and USD deposits are respectively. 5%, which is consistent within half a year. 
CCB Asia directly stated that it would give a reward of HK$500 for opening an account. The maximum interest rate for RMB deposits is also 6%, but there are restrictions on the minimum and maximum deposit amounts. US dollar deposits were introduced up to 7The annual interest rate of 8% is only 1 month. In addition, CCB Asia has also launched a cash reward of up to HK$5,000 for online currency exchange. 
ICBC (Asia) implements a deposit of more than 5,000 yuan, that is, you can enjoy the annual interest rate of up to 6% of RMB deposits, and the annual interest rate of deposits of more than 1,000 US dollars for one month is as high as 10%. 
In addition, DBS said it plans to introduce a number of offerings, including subscription fee waiver, preferential time deposit interest rates in different currencies and account service fee waiver. For the Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect 2"DBS has planned its resources in advance to respond to possible investor enquiries, increased account openings and increased trading volumes. Standard Chartered Hong Kong and Standard Chartered China have launched a number of new products under the Southbound and Northbound Schemes respectively, including increasing the number of wealth management products under the Southbound Trading to nearly 550, covering medium- to high-risk bonds that mainly invest in the Greater China** market** and low- to medium-risk bonds. Under the Northbound Scheme, RMB deposit products and more than 40 public offerings** with a risk rating of "R4" will be added, covering new economy sectors such as new consumption, new energy, new infrastructure, new manufacturing and new technology. Hang Seng Bank has expanded the number of WMC products under the Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect to over 320, nearly doubling the number of WMC products under the Southbound and Northbound Schemes, covering a wide range of risks to meet the diverse needs of customers. Under the new enhancements, Hang Seng Bank will increase the number of wealth management products available to Southbound customers to over 220, covering products of different assets and markets**, bonds, RMB, Hong Kong dollar and foreign currency deposits. According to HSBC, the total number of wealth management products offered by its mainland partner banks has increased to more than 400, including more than 100 investment in international and Asian markets**, helping southbound investors to diversify and internationalize their investment portfolios. The Bank of East Asia (BEA) has launched a comprehensive account of the Wealth Management Connect 20" Expanded the scope of wealth management products under the Southbound Scheme, providing more than 250** products. The bank expects "Wealth Management Connect 20" will boost the overall WMC market, and new customers will also receive Octopus and theme park tickets. Brokers are eager to give it a tryApproval is pendingIt is understood that since the pilot of the cross-boundary wealth management connect business in 2021, the banks participating in the pilot have gained a lot. Taking BOCHK as an example, since the launch of the Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect, the bank has maintained its leading position in the Hong Kong market in terms of the number of accounts opened, with an increase of nearly 3% year-on-year in fund remittance last year5 times, and the total transaction volume of Southbound Trading** increased by 10 times year-on-year. According to the latest disclosure of the Guangdong Branch of the People's Bank of China, as of the end of 2023, there are 6 individual investors in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area participating in the "Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect".920,000 people, including Hong Kong and Macao investors4540,000 people, 2 mainland investors380,000 people, involving 128 cross-border remittances of related funds100 million yuan. With the rapid growth of cross-border business, many brokerages have put cross-border wealth management connect 20 is seen as an important opportunity for a breakthrough in the wealth management business. According to the reporter's understanding, a number of securities firms represented by CICC and China Galaxy ** have applied for the pilot of cross-border wealth management connect and are waiting for regulatory approval. "At that time, eligible Southbound customers will be able to participate in cross-boundary wealth management without leaving home. A brokerage related business person told reporters. Compared with bank outlets, which require in-person visits to open an account at a bank branch, the advantages of online account opening by brokerages have attracted many mainland investors. Who can participate in the WMC? Although the interest rates on deposits offered by banks are exhilaratingly high, only eligible customers can enjoy such discounts. In order to allow more people to participate, Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect 20 Optimize the original mechanism from five aspects: participating institutions, investor access, individual investor quota, scope of investment products, and cross-border publicity and sales arrangements. In terms of the threshold, the threshold for Mainland investors to participate in the Southbound Scheme has been lowered from "five consecutive years" to "two years". In addition, in addition to meeting the minimum threshold requirements of 2 million yuan in household financial assets or 1 million yuan in net assets in the past three months, "my average annual income in the past three years shall not be less than 400,000 yuan" will be added as one of the alternative conditions for household financial assets access, so as to support more residents in the Greater Bay Area to participate in the pilot. 
In terms of increasing the quota, the investment quota for a single investor will be increased from RMB1 million to RMB3 million. 
In addition, the Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect 20 will also increase the participation of ** companies in the pilot, and at the same time include the RMB deposit products of mainland sales banks in the scope of eligible products under the "Northbound Scheme", and expand the risk level of public **investment** from "R1 to R3" to "R1 to R4" (excluding commodities***) to better meet the diversified investment needs of residents in the Greater Bay Area. 
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) expects the Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect 2We believe that the enhanced measures can further enrich the investment choices of GBA residents and promote mutual access between the financial markets of the three places, which is conducive to the industry to jointly explore business opportunities in the GBA.
Editor: Captain Review: Xu Wen.