Wealthy European clients eye Hong Kong for family offices, says BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas, France’s largest lender and the second-largest in Europe, has found that an increasing number of wealthy European clients are seeking to establish family offices in Hong Kong to capitalise on growing opportunities in the region, according to a banker from the lender.A growing number of wealthy mainland clients were also looking to invest in Europe, said Lemuel Lee, head of wealth management for BNP Paribas in Hong Kong.“The two-way capital flow between Europe and mainland China is expected to continue in the coming years, while Hong Kong is playing an important role as a connector in the process,” Lee said in an interview with the China-morning-post" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="12558" data-entity-type="organization">South China Morning Post.“For these European investors who want to invest in technology start-ups or other businesses in Asia and mainland China, Hong Kong is the best location for them to set up family offices to do due diligence or negotiate deals,” Lee added.A family office is a corporation set up by wealthy individuals to conduct investment activities, manage succession planning or oversee non-financial assets like art collections or philanthropic foundations. To capture this market, the Hong Kong government has introduced tax incentives and other measures since 2023.In June, Jason Fong, the global head of family office at InvestHK – the government body responsible for foreign investment promotion – told the SCMP that the agency was assisting 30 European family offices planning to set up or invest in the city, accounting for about 19 per cent of the 160 currently handled by the department.This momentum was also reflected in a recent Deloitte study, which found that the number of single-family offices in the city had risen 25 per cent over the past two years, reaching about 3,384 by the end of 2025.