Best bank: HSBC
In 2023, HSBC further solidified its position as Hong Kong’s best bank. Under the leadership of Luanne Lim, HSBC Hong Kong’s chief executive, the bank’s profit before tax soared to $10.7 billion, representing 80% year-on-year growth and contributing 35.3% to the group’s overall pre-tax profit.
The bank’s market penetration is unrivaled, with one in two banking customers in the territory using HSBC as their main bank and eight out of 10 millennials banking with HSBC. Despite its significant size, HSBC has demonstrated remarkable agility in adapting to the digital age. Its e-wallet, PayMe, now boasts a customer base of 3.1 million and a merchant outlet base of 63,000, further strengthening its leadership in digital payments.
The bank’s commitment to innovation and customer-centric services is evident in its mobile app, which rolled out an impressive 387 features in 2023, earning it the distinction of being the most feature-rich banking app in the market.
HSBC’s dominant position extends to trade finance, where it commands a 25.7% market share in Hong Kong. It has also made significant strides in the capital markets. The bank managed M&A deals with a total value of $20 billion over the past year. HSBC has also achieved top-tier positions in syndicated loans, debt capital markets and equity capital markets, showcasing its versatility and expertise across diverse financial products.
Best investment bank: Goldman Sachs
In Hong Kong’s competitive investment banking sector, Goldman Sachs has emerged as a frontrunner. In 2023, with a muted IPO market, M&A transactions became crucial for investment banks, offering investors an alternative exit path and generating substantial deal volume and fees.
Goldman Sachs led in M&A wallet share, advising on high-profile deals such as JS Global’s spin-off and separate listing of SharkNinja in the US. The deal led to a significant restructuring of the leading household appliance maker, with the new SharkNinja group concentrating on the US and Europe markets, while the Hong Kong-listed entity primarily focuses on China and Asia Pacific.
Another notable transaction was New World Development’s $5.3 billion sale of a majority stake in NWS Holdings to the Cheng family, streamlining the group’s businesses and easing its debt burden. Goldman Sachs also played a key role in Bain Capital’s $3.16 billion acquisition of Chinese data centre provider Chindata, the largest take-private transaction in Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) in 2023.
Despite challenging equity markets, Goldman Sachs topped the league tables among international banks in Hong Kong. The bank led ZJLD’s $677 million offering, the largest Hong Kong IPO in 2023, and WuXi XDC’s $521 million offering, the largest Hong Kong healthcare IPO in 2023.
In the debt capital markets, Goldman Sachs facilitated access to international debt for Chinese and Hong Kong clients. It played a significant role in China Life Insurance (Overseas) Company’s $2 billion subordinated capital bonds and the Hong Kong government’s tokenized green debt issuance and digitally native green notes.
Best international bank: DBS
DBS saw impressive revenue growth in Hong Kong over 2023 along with improvements to its payment systems, new corporate responsibility and diversity and inclusivity programmes, and sustainable finance initiatives.
Revenues were up 12% year on year to HK$9.2 billion ($1.18 billion). This was achieved in part due to initiatives such as DBS Hong Kong partnering with CLP Power to provide its small and medium-sized enterprise clients with opportunities to invest in energy efficiency upgrades and the launch of a new rewards programme, SME Low-Carbon Rewards.
Other improvements the bank introduced in 2023 included its FPS x Thailand PromptPay. With the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Bank of Thailand collaborating to link their respective digital payment systems, DBS upgraded its payment system to enable corporate merchants to capture new payment instructions for QR code collections from Thailand.
DBS Hong Kong also launched new sustainability initiatives in 2023. This included its LiveBetter service in the DBS digibank HK app. The service introduced sustainability centric educational features, Know Better and Invest Better, aimed at removing the barriers and customer inertia around sustainable living.
Best digital bank: Standard Chartered
Standard Chartered wins the award this year for making several key enhancements to its digital banking platform, supporting strong growth in customer sales and engagement.
The bank launched a new version of its SC Mobile App – the first bank-wide revamp of the app since 2018 – which now carries new, simplified design and navigation, and integrates sophisticated payment and cross-border remittance capabilities.
As part of the upgrade, the bank also digitalized a range of banking products available on the app, including deposits (Bonus Payroll, Online Asia Miles Time Deposit, and Wealth Saver), cards and loans. This included further digitalizing its partnership with AlipayHK, which involved launching new direct payment capabilities, a merchant installation function and a digital wallet binding programme to enable more mainland China, cross-boundary card usage and spending.
Together with developing new innovations for its mobile app, the bank has been involved in one of the most innovative areas of finance: central bank digital currencies (CBDC). Last year, it worked with 10 merchants and over 200 Hong Kong citizens in participating in the e-HKD pilot programme, a key component of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s retail CBDC initiative.
Side by side with these developments, StanChart launched a digital sales and marketing programme to support its strategy and drive growth, an effort that helped deliver strong results.
The bank delivered higher year-on-year sales growth last year compared with the average among its peers in Hong Kong (76% compared with an average of 59%, according to research by Finalta), with digital being the primary driver.
About two thirds of retail product sales came via digital channels. As such, digital revenues from retail products were up 104% year on year, while digital lending over the period rose by a record 74%.
Importantly, the bank grew its digital customers to over 1.3 million last year, and boasts a digitally active (within a month) ratio of 56.6%, which is higher than the industry average in Hong Kong.
Best bank for SMEs: PAObank
PAObank has put significant effort into tackling the barriers its small and medium-sized enterprise clients face when trying to secure lending. These initiatives widened those eligible for the banks’ lending and increased the number of those SME clients accessing new credit.
These initiatives include the eFast Loan in partnership with Octopus, which offers clients a maximum loan amount of HK$1,000,000, with approval within 24 hours. Furthermore, PAObank launched its Business Revolving Loan, which allows SME clients with unique risk profiles to submit a wider amount of data as part of their loan application.
PAObank also debuted Hong Kong’s first bank-insurance commercial data interchange in partnership with FWD Hong Kong to simplify know-your-customer procedures and provide a more comprehensive assessment of customers’ credit health levels.
Best bank for ESG: Crédit Agricole CIB
Crédit Agricole CIB demonstrated its global capabilities and expertise in sustainability for Hong Kong clients last year, structuring and executing several transactional firsts as well as supporting the growth and development of the broader market.
A key development was the formation of a new environmental, social and governance advisory team, set up to support clients in their sustainable transition with expert advice and guidance, together with ESG rating analysis.
This was the type of support Fubon Bank (Hong Kong) drew on in executing its first green repo – a $50 million transaction with the cash leg of it used to finance or refinance the bank’s green loans to renewable-energy projects and green buildings.
Crédit Agricole was green structuring adviser and counterparty on the transaction, which supports Fubon’s net-zero ambitions.
Importantly, this transaction and four others across different asset-classes and areas helped support Hong Kong’s status as a financial hub for sustainable finance in Asia and worldwide.
The first was the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation’s triple-tranche, jumbo social bond issue, which at over $2.5 billion equivalent – across the Hong Kong dollar, renminbi and dollar tranches – is the largest transaction in this format in Asia.
Like the HKMC’s first social bond issuance in 2022, the proceeds will mainly be used to finance or refinance the loans under the Special 100% Loan Guarantee of the small and medium-sized enterprise financing guarantee scheme, which was launched in April 2020 to alleviate the cash-flow pressures of SMEs in Hong Kong during the Covid pandemic.
Crédit Agricole was one of the joint structuring banks on this transaction, as well as joint global coordinator, lead manager and bookrunner.
The French bank’s other standout sustainable-focused deals include two for the Hong Kong government: an eight-tranche $5.75 billion equivalent green bond issue in May; and its pioneering, debut tokenized green bond.
The conventional green bond was the largest by the issuer and the largest multi-tranche bond in this format in Asia Pacific, while the HK$800 million ($102 million) tokenized green bond is the first by a government issuer globally.
Away from the capital markets, Crédit Agricole also innovated on the liability side of its balance sheet in structuring and launching the first-of-its-kind ESG-linked deposit product.
Designed for New World China and NWS Holdings, the product incentivises the companies to improve their ESG performance by linking the deposit rate to their sustainability performance.
Best bank for corporate responsibility: Bank of China (Hong Kong)
For its range of initiatives and substantial investment in supporting social and environmental issues in the special administrative region, Bank of China (Hong Kong) wins the award this year.
The bank, through its BOCHK Charitable Foundation, supports a breadth of social causes, from poverty alleviation and youth development to environmental protection and carbon reduction, arts and culture, and sports development.
By the end of last year, it had supported over 80 charitable projects across these areas, donating a total of HK$36 million ($4.6 million), which helped over six million people – twice the number who benefited from its donations in 2022.
In addition, the bank has also cultivated a volunteer army of 8,400 employees across the group to support its work in the community and give something back. Impressively, these employees organized and participated in 145 individual community activities last year, notching up a total of over 23,000 volunteer service hours.
Financial inclusion is another key issue for the bank, and last year it focused on helping elderly customers by introducing a simplified version of its mobile banking app and a finger vein biometric system. The accessibility campaign also included expanding the coverage of its banking network to more remote public housing estates. For instance, it opened a branch in the Kai Tak development area of East Kowloon.
Sustainability has become one of the most important social and environmental issues in Hong Kong, as elsewhere, and BOCHK has been an innovator in its financial support of customers wanting to be more sustainable.
The bank was the first bank in Hong Kong to launch green mortgages and green personal loans, and demand has rocketed, increasing by 274% and 62%, respectively last year.
BOCHK is also focused on its own sustainability and reducing its carbon footprint. A key development last year in supporting that aim was to create a platform to collect its carbon-emission and energy-consumption data.
Best bank for diversity and inclusion: HSBC
HSBC introduced initiatives to tackle parental leave, diversity in its hiring process and to improve support for its transgender employees in Hong Kong last year.
The bank enhanced its maternity leave to 20 weeks and increased its paternity leave to 40 days. In addition, the bank increased its policy allowance of personal/caregiving time to four hours per month.
In 2023 the bank introduced alternative interview formats and adjustments for candidates who require support during the recruitment process. Furthermore, the bank now includes a more diverse panel of interviewers to promote inclusive hiring.
HSBC also instituted gender transition guidance to provide information, tools and resources for its employees who embark on gender transitioning. The programme also provides for line managers as well as human resources professionals to support employees in their transition journey.
HSBC also inaugurated D&I Week in April 2023 and Neurodiversity Week in March 2023. The annual events feature both external and internal speakers with the aim of promoting awareness around the topics.
Best bank for corporates: Citi
Citi saw impressive growth across its corporate banking services in Hong Kong in 2023. It saw year-on-year growth in its loan portfolio and funded several significant environmental, social and governance (ESG) financing transactions.
The bank saw its treasury and trade solutions business grow by 23% during 2023, with even more impressive growth in its securities services business of 43%. Additionally, Citi increased its lending revenue by 17% in 2023 in the territory.
The firm concluded multiple ESG financing transactions, totalling billions of dollars. Half these deals involved Hong Kong’s public sector, contributing to efforts to promote the city as a hub for green financing.
The bank also entered a multi-year renewable energy purchase agreement with CLP Power Hong Kong to become the first bank in Hong Kong to power its entire operations using renewable energy locally sourced from CLP Power.
Rising star: ZA Bank
ZA Bank continues to push for regulatory approval to introduce its virtual asset trading services for retail investors using the ZA Bank app via Hong Kong-licensed exchanges. On the business banking side, ZA Bank introduced its Banking for Web3 Vision, offering business banking services for local Web3 firms and startups, and serving as a settlement bank for Hong Kong-licensed virtual asset trading platforms such as HashKey Exchange and OSL.
It is exploring applications of digital currencies and was one of the two Hong Kong banks to participate in Project LionRock-Inthanon, a joint initiative by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Bank of Thailand, to explore the use of central bank digital currencies (CBDC) for cross-border financial transactions. The bank also joined HKMA’s e-HKD Pilot Programme Phase 1 to explore the potential use cases of retail CBDC in the settlement of tokenized assets.
Its Rate-up coupons that are distributed in its mobile banking app every Tuesday have seen redemption by over 117,000 users, while its PowerDraw instant spending reward programme boasts monthly engagement of over three million.
