to resolve differences of views that would threaten a workout and to achieve an acceptable compromise. to this end, we are ready to listen to any involved party, irrespective of size or national affiliation. in taking on this role, we are following the example of the bank of england in offering to act as an “ honest broker ” or impartial mediator to help to bring negotiations to a satisfactory conclusion. i should emphasize however that we do not get involved in the detailed negotiations on the workout. that is the job of the lead bank, the steering committee and the company and its advisers. similarly, it should be the task of these parties to make every effort to resolve disagreements before they are brought to the attention of the hkma. in other words, the hkma should only become involved as a last resort. some people have suggested that the hkma should become involved earlier and play a more visible role in workouts. there is a risk however that this would detract from the role of the lead bank and the financial advisers and reduce the impact of the contribution that the hkma can make familiarity can breed contempt. the hkma has been involved in about 10 cases since the hkab guidelines were issued. typically these will involve situations where a small minority of banks, sometimes only one, are refusing to sign a restructuring agreement or are threatening to take action, such as realize security, which would cause the workout to collapse. our practice in such cases is to listen to both sides and to understand their respective positions. where a small number of banks are holding out against the majority view, we will ask them to explain their position and to weigh the costs of their behaviour against the potential benefits. where the position of the minority banks seems to lack sound justification, we will usually try to persuade them to accept the majority view or at least make every effort to work towards a compromise. at the very least, we would request the banks to reach decisions on restructuring proposals within a reasonable period of time and try to adhere to the deadlines which are set for these decisions. the hkma ’ s role in the workout process is, i believe, consistent with the monetary authority ’ s principal function under the banking ordinance, which is to “ promote the general stability and effective working of the banking system ”. the banking system can only work effectively if there is an effective means of restructuring corporate debt. it is not however our practice to use our powers under the banking ordinance to force banks to take decision on

overall infrastructure investment needs of asia at us $ 8 trillion over the 2010 – 2020 period. and, with the mainland authorities implementing the “ belt and road ” strategy to enhance connectivity within the region through increased infrastructure investments, there is likely to be an even greater financing requirement. as such, hong kong is well positioned to develop into a major financing hub for investments in this field. 8. indeed, the establishment of iffo has three main objectives : • building a cluster of key stakeholders in infrastructure financing, including equity and debt investors, project sponsors and developers, professional advisors, and relevant agencies from the “ belt and road ” countries ; • providing a platform for information exchange, experience sharing and capacity building on infrastructure financing among the cluster members ; and • promoting hong kong as a major platform for belt and road infrastructure project sourcing, financing and fund management, leveraging on our role as an international financial centre. 9. the hkma is now in the process of setting up iffo and the response, to date, has been most encouraging. in - principle support has been received from the asian infrastructure investment bank, the asian development bank, and the international finance corporation under the world bank group. and others have also indicated an interest. iffo will be launched in july and we look forward to sharing with you more information about its work. corporate treasury management 10. i would now like to turn to issues of more immediate concern to you in your treasury management roles, and to share a few factors which i believe are shaping your business : 11. first, the continuing liberalisation of the mainland ’ s capital account. as i mentioned earlier, the mainland authorities have continued to implement measures to liberalise cross - border fund flows. i am sure many of you are familiar with the progress, but let me just quickly name a few key measures introduced in recent years : bis central bankers ’ speeches • the shanghai - hong kong stock connect has been in place and operating smoothly since november 2014, allowing international investors access to the a - shares listed in shanghai through the stock exchange in hong kong, and vice versa. • the mainland - hong kong mutual recognition of funds scheme was implemented in july 2015, allowing mainland and hong kong funds to be distributed in each other ’ s markets through a streamlined approval process. • the qfii arrangement was refined in february this year by relaxing individual quotas and shortening the investment lock - up period, among other improvements. • the people ’ s bank of china announced in february a