appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Enoch Yiu

Christopher Hui Ching-yu has recently been on a world tour, conducting roadshows in Canada, the UK and Norway, in an effort to urge global businesses to redomicile in Hong Kong.
The main talking point for Hui, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, has been a new law, enacted in May, that sought to make it easier for overseas companies to reincorporate in the city.
Just a few days after the law came into force, Hui flew to Canada to meet senior executives from insurers Manulife and Sun Life in Toronto and urged them to move their incorporations from Bermuda to the city.
The new law came at a time when changes to global tax laws had made traditional havens like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands less appealing to international businesses. Hong Kong considered this an opportune moment to have firms redomicile in the city as part of its effort to promote itself as an international financial centre.
Companies interested in moving their incorporations to Hong Kong have been attracted to the city because it is a bridge to mainland China, according to analysts.
Not long after Hui met Manulife president and CEO Phil Witherington and other senior executives, Manulife (International), the biggest pension provider in the city, told customers it would redomicile to Hong Kong in November.
That came after French insurer AXA’s local unit made the same move on the law’s first day of implementation. And Sun Life’s Hong Kong CEO Clement Lam said the insurer was looking to do the same.
“Sun Life has engaged in productive discussions with Hong Kong government officials regarding Hong Kong’s redomiciliation regime,” Lam said. “We believe this new framework will reinforce Hong Kong’s position as a global business and financial hub.”




The legislation allows companies that are incorporated overseas to establish themselves in the city while maintaining their legal identity and business continuity. In years past, a company that wanted to move its domicile had to close an existing entity and shift all assets and transactions to a new firm in Hong Kong. For insurance companies, they needed all policyholders to agree to the change, a complicated process that was seen as discouraging.
“Historically, companies chose to incorporate in traditional offshore jurisdictions due to favourable tax and regulatory factors,” Hui said. “These advantages are diminishing today.” He added that companies were intrigued by Hong Kong’s legal system and simple tax structure.
“I also met a number of companies during my visit to Canada to encourage their utilisation of the regime,” Hui said in a written interview.
Hui said the new legislation allowed companies to address external risks posed by maintaining offshore registrations.
“This in turn brings in investment, job opportunities and demand for local professional services, which fuels the development of our markets,” Hui said.
Singapore was quicker to address the redomiciliation issue than Hong Kong. It introduced its legal regime in 2017. Like Hong Kong’s, the programme allows companies to transfer their registration to the city state while keeping their corporate history and branding, according to a government website.
Edmund Wong, a Hong Kong lawmaker representing the accountancy sector, said many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were also contacting their accountants or lawyers to consider moving. He said the bill passed without issue because lawmakers knew it would be popular.

“Many local accounting firms were contacted by SMEs that set up overseas to try to redomicile in Hong Kong,” Wong said. “The move will create jobs and new [demand for services from] the many professionals in Hong Kong.”
Wong said the legislation was needed to keep the city competitive.
“Many other markets have laws that allow overseas companies to be easily domiciled, while Hong Kong’s previous regulation was too complicated,” Wong said. “If Hong Kong did not introduce the new law, the city would lose out to other markets.”
As of the end of last year, 15,126 overseas companies were registered in Hong Kong, up 2 per cent from a year earlier, according to government data. While these companies represented only 1 per cent of the 1.46 million firms registered with the Company Registry, some were big players.
Of these, 11 were insurers, including AIA, AXA, Manulife, Sun Life and FWD, which were incorporated in Bermuda.
“Tax is the major reason for companies to incorporate in Bermuda or other tax havens, as they charge very little tax and have no estate duty,” said Anthony Lau, Hong Kong tax and business advisory leader at Deloitte China. But he said Bermuda was not as attractive as it used to be.
In recent years, a global tax regime was implemented in phases, mandating that all jurisdictions impose a corporate tax of at least 15 per cent on major firms. This meant Bermuda and other tax havens, like the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands, would soon charge tax for multinationals with annual revenue of €750 million (US$882 million) or more, Lau said.
In addition, disclosure requirements on annual financial returns in these jurisdictions have also increased in recent years, he said.


“These factors have led companies that were incorporated in Bermuda or other tax havens but have operations in Hong Kong to face double taxation and double regulatory reporting,” Lau said. “It makes sense for them to redomicile in Hong Kong to save costs and avoid reporting to both markets.”
Deloitte had more than 10 corporate clients in different industries that expressed interest in redomiciling in Hong Kong, Lau said.
“The new Hong Kong regime allows companies and insurance firms to keep all assets and contracts with the [new] Hong Kong firm, making it very simple and easy for companies to redomicile here,” Lau said.
Several financial institutions, including securities traders and insurers, were working with law firm JSM to redomicile in Hong Kong, according to Jeckle Chiu, a corporate and securities partner.
“The introduction of the new re-domiciliation regime has created a forcing opportunity,” Chiu said.
Chiu said a growing number of companies would choose to redomicile in Hong Kong to take advantage of the city’s legal system, efficient government and competitive tax regime – as well as to use Hong Kong as a bridge to China.
Beyond taxes, the lower disclosure requirements in Bermuda and other tax havens were a draw for companies incorporated in these jurisdictions. But Chiu said disclosure requirements related to the ultimate beneficial owners in these offshore jurisdictions have come into greater alignment with Hong Kong.
“These historical reasons are no longer relevant for businesses or companies with strong Hong Kong and China-based customers or suppliers or business operations to stay offshore,” Chiu said.
For the insurance sector, having more international firms incorporated in Hong Kong would fulfil a 2022 goal set by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu to turn the city into a global hub.
“The law will be a game changer,” said Selina Lau Pui-ling, CEO of the Hong Kong Federation of Insurers (HKFI) in an interview in May.
“Insurance companies redomiciling to Hong Kong will demonstrate a significant vote of confidence in Hong Kong as an international financial centre,” she said. The HKFI represents 138 insurance companies in the city.
“Redomiciling to Hong Kong allows us to better align with the city’s robust financial and regulatory environment, strengthening our ability to meet local market needs,” said Patrick Graham, CEO of Manulife Hong Kong and Macau.
Among the city’s 175 banks, 123 are incorporated outside Hong Kong, and many of the overseas lenders conduct wholesale banking or private banking business.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has not received any domicile-related applications from banks, according to a spokeswoman, but she said the new regime would benefit the city.
“The introduction of a redomiciliation regime will attract more financial institutions, including banks, to operate in Hong Kong,” the spokeswoman said, adding this would help diversify Hong Kong’s financial sector and promote innovation in financial products and services.
This would create jobs, products and services and elevate Hong Kong as an international financial centre, she said.
In addition to corporations, more global fund companies were planning to register in Hong Kong to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the mainland market.
“Only Hong Kong-domiciled funds are eligible for cross-border schemes such as the Mutual Recognition Scheme or the Wealth Management Connect,” said Sally Wong, CEO of the Hong Kong Investment Funds Association.

She added that as these programmes developed, more locally domiciled funds would be launched.
The Securities and Futures Commission also introduced a mechanism in 2021 for the re-domiciliation of overseas corporate funds to Hong Kong.
Under the mechanism, an overseas fund’s corporate identity, continuity and track record could be preserved after re-domiciliation, saving costs for the funds.
Since the launch of the open-ended-fund companies regime, the SFC recorded strong growth in the number of open-ended funds, which increased 72 per cent from a year earlier to 520 at the end of March. Among the 520 funds, 12 were originally set up in overseas markets but redomiciled in Hong Kong under the new regime, according to a spokesman for the SFC.
Hui from the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau said he wanted other sectors to take advantage of the domicile programme.
He said the government would work with InvestHK, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, and the Economic and Trade Offices to promote the regime.


China targets offshore operations of brokerages in crackdown on pay loopholes, corruption

New York City’s rich Chinese grapple with Beijing tax rules as enforcement deadline nears

Brics keeps de-dollarisation push alive despite no common currency plan: analysts

Forms Syntron draws Hong Kong’s next-gen tycoons in HK$940 million IPO

Banking & finance

Move over Bermuda, Caymans; Hong Kong wants to be the world’s dominant corporate domicile

Illustration by Henry Wong

Christopher Hui Ching-yu, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, fifth from the left, in Toronto. Photo: Handout

Christopher Hui Ching-yu, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, is at right on stage in Toronto. Photo: Handout

AXA takes the lead among insurers in moving legal domicile to Hong Kong under relaxed rules

An ad for AXA is seen at the top of a building in Hong Kong’s financial centre, February 27, 2018. Photo: IP3/Getty Images

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu speaks to the media at the Central Government Offices, before the Executive Council meeting on May 20, 2025. Photo: Sun Yeung

The logo of insurer AXA seen at the company’s headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, March 5, 2018. Photo: Reuters

Manulife’s Hong Kong unit to redomicile from Bermuda thanks to new law

Manulife’s logo is displayed atop Lee Garden One in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, on June 29, 2019. Photo: Shutterstock

Patrick Graham, CEO of Manulife (International), photographed in Ngau Tau Kok on June 3, 2024. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Hong Kong’s 2024 life insurance sales soar 21% to a record, led by wealth, estate planning

Insurance sales agents approach mainland tourists in Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. Photo: Eugene Lee

An insurance sales agent touting to mainland tourists in Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui on 20 February 2024. Photo: Eugene Lee

HSBC Life‘s Hong Kong and Macau CEO Daisy Tsang on April 14, 2025. Photo: Sun Yeung

Insurance sales agents in Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui on February 20, 2024. Photo: Eugene Lee

 Manulife (International) Limited CEO Patrick Graham in Ngau Tau Kok on June 3, 2024. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Hong Kong’s ‘game changer’ law will encourage insurers to redomicile: industry guild

Hong Kong’s company redomiciliation regime  will allow firms incorporated overseas to apply to return to the city while maintaining their legal identity and business. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Selina Lau Pui-ling, CEO of Hong Kong Federation of Insurers, pictured in June 2021. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Business

Economy

News

Hong Kong

Hong Kong Economy

Banking & Finance

Companies

Money

As the appeal of traditional tax havens like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands wanes, Hong Kong steps in to lure global multinationals


As the appeal of traditional tax havens like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands wanes, Hong Kong steps in to lure global multinationals.


Move over Bermuda, Caymans; Hong Kong wants to be the world’s dominant corporate domicile

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}As the appeal of traditional tax havens like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands wanes, Hong Kong steps in to lure global multinationals

As the appeal of traditional tax havens like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands wanes, Hong Kong steps in to lure global multinationals