“Tax Cuts and Looser Visa Rules”: Hong Kong-Singapore Battle for Asian Financial-Hub Supremacy Intensifies

Hong Kong and Singapore have entered an all-out battle for control of Asia’s financial-hub landscape. After Hong Kong unveiled a sweeping proposal that would effectively impose a 0% tax rate on fund managers’ carried interest, Singapore countered by expanding tax incentives and easing visa requirements. The rivalry has broadened into a drive to strengthen housing, talent and industrial capacity through the neighboring cities of Shenzhen and Johor. Yet the convergence of Chinese government policy support, major initial public offerings (IPOs) and an influx of overseas financial professionals is shifting the center of gravity in Asia’s financial markets increasingly toward Hong Kong.