eddie yue : keynote address - hong kong fintech week 2024 keynote address by mr eddie yue, chief executive of the hong kong monetary authority, at the hong kong fintech week 2024, hong kong, 28 october 2024. * * * good morning everyone. welcome to the 9th hong kong fintech week, an annual event where vision, inspiration and innovation come together to shape the future of fintech. it's wonderful to welcome so many old and new friends today to discuss this exciting topic. this year's theme is " illuminating new pathways in fintech ". it captures where we are right now - at a critical juncture on our fintech journey. we are seeing an unprecedented acceleration in financial development, fuelled by cutting - edge technologies. having arrived at this point after marking a number of significant milestones along the way, it's perhaps time to take stock and ask ourselves " what's on the horizon for fintech? " what we have learned from innovation and fintech before i delve into that question, let's revisit our overarching vision, which is to nurture a vibrant fintech ecosystem. like instruments in an orchestra, so do individual players in the fintech ecosystem, whether they are agile start - ups or established institutions, each have their own parts to play. but let's be honest, a vibrant fintech ecosystem cannot be built overnight. technology is continuously disrupting everything, including our financial markets. for many of us, embracing change isn't always easy, and sometimes the process of driving innovation may even feel uncomfortable and disorienting. but change is often also a good opportunity to reflect on how we can innovate to better serve the greater good. our fintech 2025 strategy is a powerful testament to our commitment to innovation. over the last few years, we have driven some positive transformations in our fintech ecosystem, and i would like to take the next few minutes to share three lessons we have learned along the way. first, innovation is not an end in itself, but a means to solve real - world problems. whether it's faster payments or better banking access for smes, technology is a means to help transform everyday experience and bring benefits to the real economy. one area we've been focusing on is enhancing cross - border payments. the link between our faster payment system ( fps ) and thailand's promptpay is one example, providing consumers with a seam

nearly 80 of the top 100 global money managers are in hong kong. the total assets under management hit a record high of us $ 2. 1 trillion in 2013, with 72 % of the funds sourced from mr david puth, ceo of cls group holdings, and cls bank international. bis central bankers ’ speeches non - hong kong investors. hong kong ’ s net international investment position has also grown from 250 % of our gdp in 2004 to close to 300 % in recent years. 10. 2004 also marked the commencement of offshore rmb business in hong kong and we are now the global hub of offshore rmb business. 11. against this encouraging backdrop, the average daily fx turnover in hong kong has more than doubled, from us $ 102 billion in april 2004 to us $ 275 billion in april 2013. in fact, hong kong has become the 5th largest fx trading centre in 2013, up from the 6th place in 2004. in short, hong kong has further consolidated its status as an international investment, banking, payment and commercial centre. 12. effective fx settlement is a prerequisite to all these achievements, given the significant fund flows that an ifc, such as hong kong, needs to handle, and the need to maintain the stability of the hong kong dollar under the currency board arrangement. ( ii ) cls developments 13. as for cls, as many of you know, it has gone from strength to strength in the past decade. for instance, the number of currencies it supports has grown from seven from the start, to 17 today. the number of settlement members has also increased from 39 to 62. 14. moreover, the volume and value of transactions via the cls have expanded significantly, with an average daily value of us $ 5 trillion 2 and daily volume of one million transactions. this should not be surprising as the global fx market has become much bigger, with the average daily turnover in 2013 ( usd 5. 3 trillion 3 ) three times bigger than in 2004. challenging times 15. as close partners, we have also faced significant challenges during difficult times in the past decade. 16. we all remembered vividly how a large part of the financial markets had almost come to a standstill after the collapse of lehman brothers in september 2008. yet, the foreign exchange market continued to operate smoothly. many market players had attributed the market stability to the support provided by cls. 17. i also believe that our linkage with cls has also provided the functional