Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the international financial centre in Abu Dhabi, and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) have signed an agreement to jointly accelerate cross-border FinTech business opportunities in Hong Kong and the UAE.  

With this agreement, ADGM has established strategic FinTech collaborations with 11 leading regulators to advance innovation and FinTech growth globally.   

The new agreement will allow the HKMA and the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of ADGM to collaborate and refer innovative businesses and activities to each other’s market, facilitate greater sharing of relevant information, providing support in the authorisation processes where appropriate, and explore projects that are mutually beneficial to both jurisdictions.

The agreement was signed in Hong Kong between Nelson Chow, chief fintech officer of the HKMA and Richard Teng, chief executive officer of the FSRA of ADGM.

Chow said: “We are pleased to establish a closer relationship with the FSRA so that both authorities could better support financial innovation in our jurisdictions. ADGM’s commitment to the pursuit of innovation resonates strongly with Hong Kong’s ambitions.

"The co-operation between the HKMA and the FSRA would strengthen the two authorities in their respective roles and initiatives in FinTech. We are particularly pleased to start a dialogue with FSRA on the opportunity to build a cross-border trade finance network using distributed ledger technology.”

Teng added: “We are glad to further our partnership and collaboration with HKMA by way of this FinTech agreement.  Hong Kong has remained a long-term strategic and economic partner of Abu Dhabi and the United Arab Emirates.

"This co-operation augments ADGM’s commitment in supporting the growth and financial developments of Abu Dhabi and the Middle East, Africa and greater Asia regions.  We look forward to working closely with the HKMA to support our FinTech start-ups and our innovative businesses, from regulations to adoption, in advancing and applying their solutions to each of our respective financial markets and jurisdictions.” – TradeArabia News Service