Hong Kong King Wai buys Portuguese digital bank BNI Europa, tapping opportunity as Hongkongers seek overseas residency amid political crisis

Conglomerate Hong Kong King Wai Group has acquired a digital bank based in Portugal, in a move motivated by Beijing’s push to forge closer business ties with Portuguese-speaking economies and the rising demand from Hongkongers seeking permanent residency in Europe amid escalating unrest in their home city.

The group secured the approval of the European Central Bank in early October to acquire over 80 per cent of BNI Europa, which has assets and deposits of about 500 million euros (US$554 million) and operates in 13 European countries including Germany and the UK. Hong Kong King Wai did not disclose how much it paid.

“We believe that this acquisition will present several very promising opportunities,” said Eric Huang, Hong Kong King Wai’s deputy chief executive.

Once it receives all the permits it needs to start operating in Greater China, BNI will potentially be the only Portuguese bank to offer cross-border digital financial services in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) and belt and road countries. The GBA is Beijing’s scheme to link Hong Kong and Macau to seven mainland Chinese cities to form an integrated economic hub.

Part of the company’s plan for the bank is to open a physical branch in a GBA city – probably Macau, Zhuhai, Shenzhen, or Guangzhou – and another in Bangkok, as Asian clients often prefer something tangible instead of doing everything online.

Hong Kong King Wai owns Thailand-listed King Wai Group, a property company, and King Wai Insurance Public Company, the only Hong Kong non-life insurance company in the Thai market. It also has business operations in mainland China.

The company saw opportunity in the US$1 billion Sino-Portuguese fund launched in 2013, which sought to help enterprises based in mainland China and Macau expand into Portuguese-speaking countries and vice versa, particularly in industries such as infrastructure, transport and energy.