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AXA, Standard Chartered eye expansion in Hong Kong’s booming offshore wealth market
City’s offshore wealth market is thriving as AXA and Standard Chartered target high-net-worth clients despite regulatory tightening
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Enoch YiuPublished: 9:00am, 8 Jun 2026
French insurer AXA and London-headquartered Standard Chartered will both launch new offerings aimed at capturing high-net-worth clients this week, indicating that the recent regulatory tightening of cross-border investment by mainland investors has failed to dampen plans by international financial firms to expand in Hong Kong.
AXA on Monday will introduce AXA Global Private, a platform targeting high‑net‑worth clients who have HK$10 million (US$1.28 million) to HK$50 million worth of insurance policies or investment products with the insurer.
Meanwhile, Standard Chartered will open a new luxury wealth management centre this week in the city at One Causeway Bay, a new office building with expansive views of the harbour on the site of the former Excelsior hotel. This will be the lender’s seventh wealth centre in the city and the 20th worldwide.Advertisement
The big investment plans showed neither firm has major concerns about recent regulatory actions signalling increased scrutiny of cross-border investment by wealthy mainland investors.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) on Saturday said all banks have complied with its instructions issued last month, requiring mainland customers opening investment accounts to declare that their funds originate outside mainland China.
AdvertisementThe HKMA’s measures matched similar steps taken by the Securities and Futures Commission last month, which required brokers to tighten the requirements for mainland investors looking to open an account. The regulators’ actions followed heavy fines imposed on three local brokers by the China Securities Regulatory Commission for offering mainland investors access to overseas stocks without licences.AdvertisementSelect VoiceSelect Speed00:0000:001.00x