Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission: Benefiting from increased transaction levies and ideal portfolio performance, recorded a surplus of approximately 1.6 billion Hong Kong dollars in the 2025-2026 fiscal year.

Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission Chairman Huang Tianyou said at a meeting of the Legislative Council's Finance Committee that a surplus of 1.49 billion Hong Kong dollars is expected for the fiscal year 2026-2027, with the reserve total expected to increase to 10.95 billion Hong Kong dollars by the end of March next year. In addition, the originally predicted deficit of around 185 million Hong Kong dollars for the current fiscal year is now expected to be a surplus of around 1.6 billion Hong Kong dollars, mainly due to the significant increase in trading levies by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission driven by the rise in the daily average turnover of the stock market and strong portfolio performance. Huang Tianyou mentioned that considering the overall salary increase in Hong Kong's financial services industry of nearly 4%, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission has allocated approximately a 3% general salary adjustment for the next fiscal year budget, as well as an additional increase of 1.5% linked to individual performance. Currently, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission has 985 employees with 52 vacancies, accounting for 5% of the total staff and a turnover rate of over 6%, with middle-level employees particularly affected by market demand. Some lawmakers raised concerns about the allocation of 5.93 million Hong Kong dollars to raise the ranks of 12 positions within the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, averaging an increase of 41,000 Hong Kong dollars per position, questioning whether there would be a case of "top-heavy." Huang Tianyou stated that in order to ensure effective market regulation while also promoting market development, it is crucial to maintain team stability, and believes that giving a 4.5% salary increase to the top-performing employees is a basic necessity.