Hong Kong Monetary Authority: Proposed increase in banking license fee by 23% to HK$750,000 expected to not affect Hong Kong's financial competitiveness.

On June 17th, the Hong Kong government gave notice to the Legislative Council of its intention to propose a resolution to adjust the fees related to bank licenses, establishment of local branches and representative offices, and approval of currency broker registration, marking the first proposed adjustment since 2024 by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. The proposed adjustment includes increasing the bank license fee from the current 610,000 HKD to 750,000 HKD, a 23% increase. The fees for establishing and operating local branches of banks are proposed to increase from the current 29,000 HKD to 36,000 HKD, a 24% increase. Similarly, the fees for establishing and operating overseas branches of banks are proposed to increase from the current 58,000 HKD to 60,000 HKD, a 3% increase. As of the end of 2025, Hong Kong has a total of 176 recognized institutions (including 149 licensed banks, 16 restricted license banks, and 11 deposit-taking companies), 27 local representative offices, and 42 approved currency brokers. These institutions collectively have 1238 branches or representative offices. The Hong Kong government has stated that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority has recently reviewed the fees specified in Schedule 2 of the Regulations and has proposed an increase in these fees. A government spokesperson mentioned that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority considered various factors when making these proposals, including overall inflation, fee levels in other regions, and operational costs of financial institutions, as well as the impact on Hong Kong's competitiveness as an international financial center. The spokesperson noted that the total amount of license fees accounts for a small portion of the total operating expenses of recognized institutions and approved currency brokers, and therefore the impact on affected financial institutions is expected to be minimal, and it will not affect Hong Kong's financial competitiveness. The Hong Kong government is scheduled to present the proposed resolution to the Legislative Council on July 8th as part of the legislative process.