ring - fencing feature in that only corporate treasury activities relating to non - hong kong associated corporations are entitled to the concessionary profit tax rate of 8. 25 %. this ringfencing feature is of concern to the oecd. in view of this, hong kong has been in close dialogue with the oecd forum and has come up with a solution to address oecd ’ s concern. so we are planning to extend the concessionary profits tax rate for specified ctc activities to onshore entities subject to some appropriate anti - abuse safeguards. the hkma is now working with the ird and fstb, in consultation with the stakeholders, to work out the details for implementing this solution. 6. our efforts and dedication have yielded good results lately. the responses from the corporates have been very encouraging. more than 30 mainland and multinational conglomerates have told us that they are actively considering establishing or expanding their ctc operations in hong kong. these include many household names in energy, electricity generation and power grids, infrastructure operators, consumer goods and financiers. this is exciting news for hong kong ’ s treasury sector and its practitioners. we should expect increased treasury activities taking place here, bigger demand for a wide array of financial products, and importantly more promising career prospects for the treasury practitioners including our younger, aspiring professionals. if we succeed in attracting big corporates to use hong kong for their ctc functions, which i am confident that they will, it should also make it easier to convince them to locate their regional headquarters ’ management activities in hong kong too. 7. ladies and gentlemen, ifc is a brutally competitive business because moneys are highly mobile, and asset owners and managers will only congregate in places which provide the best services. for hong kong to maintain its competitive edge, we must take a two pronged approach. on the one hand, we must continue to strive to improve and excel in the underlying product, i. e. to be able to deliver the safest and most efficient services in banking and finance. on the other hand, we must continue to promote and market hong kong as the most sought after brand in financial services. in this context, in addition to the intensive work on the ctc project that i have just described, the hkma is also busily working on a number of other market development initiatives. one of such initiatives that i wish to highlight today is our effort seeking to modernise the legal framework and tax treatment

capital for its corporates to “ go out ”. hong kong, which has been the major hub and springboard for foreign corporates to “ go into ” china since the beginning of china ’ s reform and opening programme, has now taken up the extremely crucial role of serving as the hub and springboard for china ’ s new “ going out ” era. 15. ladies and gentlemen, it ’ s a great pleasure to be able to talk to you today. as a treasury market practitioner, you are in the right place at the right time. hong kong is a place that will offer enormous headroom for growth. however, the headroom is only relevant if all of us – the financial firms, practitioners, regulators – work together to build the “ hong kong brand ”, a brand that is widely preferred and cherished by customers looking for the best and most reliable financial services. we in the hkma are fully committed and ready to build the “ hong kong brand ”. i trust you all share the same commitment and readiness. thank you very much! 4 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches