UK and China weigh cross-border asset-management scheme to deepen market ties

The UK and mainland China are considering a new cross-border asset-management link and upgrades to their existing stock connect scheme, as both sides seek closer capital-market cooperation, according to Ashley Alder, chairman of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).“We are looking at enhancing market connectivity between China and the UK, particularly by building on the stock connect with Shanghai and Shenzhen,” Alder said. “In addition, we are exploring other areas of cooperation, such as asset management.”He made the remarks in an exclusive interview with the SCMP in Hong Kong on Wednesday, ahead of his departure for Beijing as part of a business delegation accompanying UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on a four-day visit to China – the first such trip by a British prime minister in eight years.Alder is travelling with UK Treasury minister Lucy Rigby and is scheduled to meet mainland regulators including the China-securities-regulatory-commission" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="21605" data-entity-type="organization">China Securities Regulatory Commission and the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA) to discuss measures to strengthen cross-border trading links and regulatory cooperation.He previously spent three decades in Hong Kong, serving as CEO of the Securities and Futures Commission from 2011 to 2022.During that time, he worked with mainland authorities on several cross-border market access programmes, including connect schemes for stocks, bonds, exchange-traded funds and wealth-management products.He said UK and Chinese authorities were now studying whether to create a framework similar to the Greater Bay Area’s wealth-management connect scheme – launched in 2021 – that would allow mainland investors to access UK-based asset-management and retirement products.