Hong Kong authorities are pushing to create an Asian rival to Europe’s influential securities depositories, in a bid to lessen dependence on western financial infrastructure and boost global use of the renminbi.
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, which runs the stock market, said on Tuesday it was working with the territory’s monetary authority to develop an Asian international settlement house that could rival Belgium’s Euroclear and Clearstream of Luxembourg.
China has sought to reduce its dependency on western financial systems amid growing geopolitical tensions and comes as Europe moves to seize €200bn of frozen Russian assets, to strengthen its hand in negotiations over a ceasefire in Ukraine.