New York-based financial services provider Brown Brothers Harriman & Co (BBH) has appointed Gabriel Cheung to lead its newly-launched trustee business in Hong Kong, which has been registered as Brown Brothers Harriman Trustee Services (Hong Kong) Ltd.
Mr. Cheung joins BBH from HSBC Institutional Trust Services, where he was senior manager of trustee and fiduciary services. Before that, he was associate general counsel at AIA Pension and Trustee in Hong Kong. He will report to Scott McLaren, head of BBH Hong Kong, and Matthew Heffernan, senior vice president of institutional trustee services at BBH.
BBH has been a trustee and depositary in Ireland, Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands for over 25 years. Mr. McLaren confirms that the extension of its service offerings is aimed at global asset managers looking to establish Hong Kong-domiciled funds, including exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
“The launch of the mutual recognition of funds (MRF) [scheme] is a big chance for global fund sponsors as Hong Kong-domiciled funds evolve from a domestic focus to a cross-border character; globally active fund managers, in particular, will require new capability sets, and consistent and coordinated practices across fund domiciles,” says Mr. McLaren.
He adds that the potential inclusion of ETFs in the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect would further boost Hong Kong’s attractiveness as a domicile, as the Hong Kong-listed products would then be made available to Chinese investors.
Since the application window of the MRF programme was opened on July 1, 2015, a number of global and Hong Kong-based asset managers such as JP Morgan Asset Management and Hang Seng Investment Management Limited have received approvals from the Mainland regulator to distribute their funds in China.
Mr. Cheung notes: “The MRF [scheme] presents an enticing opportunity for global asset managers and investors, but the provision of strong trustee services that deploy continuous risk-based oversight and asset monitoring is critical to its success, as well as Hong Kong’s success as an international asset management centre.”
