In this live episode of The Connector Podcast recorded at the DFS Digital Finance Summit in Brussels, host Koen Vanderhoydonk interviews Paula Kent and Fernando from Invest Hong Kong. They explain why Hong Kong is an attractive gateway for European fintechs, outlining the city’s dense financial ecosystem, its common‑law regulatory framework, and recent policy developments such as the virtual‑asset trading platform framework (June 2023) and the stable‑coin licensing regime (August 2025). They discuss market‑entry tactics – leveraging existing European customers, joining local accelerators, and participating in competitions – and highlight cross‑border connectivity tools like Stock Connect, Bond Connect and Wealth Connect that link Hong Kong with Mainland China’s Greater Bay Area. The conversation then moves to sector opportunities (payments, e‑commerce, crypto/blockchain, insurtech, biotech/cleantech, asset management) and showcases concrete success stories, including Groove Beek te Kamer’s joint‑venture asset‑management launch, CurrencyFair’s Hong Kong office and B2B deal, and Fyneos’s insurtech expansion. Finally, they describe Hong Kong’s innovation culture, IP concerns for European firms, and emerging trends such as Chinese capital using Hong Kong as a bridge to Europe. Contact information for Invest Hong Kong and upcoming events (Hong Kong FinTech Week, Start Me Up) are provided.
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Welcome to the Connector Podcast, an ongoing conversation connecting fintechs, banks, and regulators worldwide. Join CEO and founder Koen Vanderhoydonk as you learn more about the latest available trends and solutions in the markets.
Welcome to the DFS Digital Finance Summit here in Brussels, organized by Fintech Belgium, and we have the pleasure to do many podcasts live from this amazing event. And now I got Invest Hong Kong with me. Paula and Fernando, can you just introduce yourselves?
Hi, Koen. Thank you. I'm Paula Kent. I'm the head of Invest Hong Kong Brussels team, and we help European companies go to Hong Kong.
And I'm Fernando. I am the deputy head of Invest Hong Kong, and I work together with Paula facilitating the landing of foreign companies into the Hong Kong market.
Okay, so I already mentioned we're at a fintech event, you guys from Invest Hong Kong. So what brings those two together, fintech and Hong Kong? Why do companies need to go to Hong Kong?
Well, we truly believe Hong Kong is the place to go for fintechs in Asia. First of all, because it's the main financial hub there. So Everybody's there. 71 out of the top 100 top banks are in Hong Kong. They have branches in Hong Kong. 6 out of the top insurers are there. There are like 157 licenses for insurance companies in Hong Kong. And actually, financial services represent 25% of Hong Kong GDP. So There are a lot of business opportunities for any European fintech that is looking to do something in Asia.
And I'm always wondering, what is the difference between the European ecosystem versus the Hong Kong fintech ecosystem?
Well, I would say that Hong Kong is one city, right? But it's global financial center number 3, so it's all very condensed. It's very easy to quickly meet all kinds of potential clients. So in that sense, Hong Kong is almost more comparable to London as a global financial center number 2, right? The EU, obviously everything is more spread out because you have 27 countries that yes fall under under the one EU legislation, but still you have 27 markets and almost as many languages to to work in. So in that sense, both ecosystems are quite different, but still with the international focus that also European companies have, they can land very successfully in Hong Kong.
It's funny that you mentioned European isn't a single market from a regulatory point of view. How does Hong Kong look at regulations and how would they look at maybe European regulations?
I would say since, like Fernando said before, since Financial services and fintech is such a big part of GDP, 25%. It means that Hong Kong wants to stay on top of its game and they need all the fintechs they can get, right? Hong Kong born and bred as well as international. And what they've done in Hong Kong is that they regulate area by area. They've started in June 2023 with a regulatory framework for virtual asset trading platforms.
I think one of the first.
Yeah. And with currently 11 licensed companies. Then came a number of initiatives with sandboxes, cyberport, and tokenization. And now recent, very interesting, I think, is the stablecoin licensing regime launched in August 2025. We've seen a lot of interest, no licensees so far. But that is also to be expected, right? It's a step-by-step process and—
It's a mission process, I can imagine.
Yeah. And what the Hong Kong government want, yes, they want to stimulate innovation, but they want at the same time to protect the consumer, right? So it's balancing these 2 areas. And we see there are a lot of people, let's say, who have started the process for the stablecoin, but nobody has received a license as yet.
And one remark is that Hong Kong is a completely independent jurisdiction from China mainland, so the regulation is independent and is more— is closer to what you can find in common law countries because of the history of Hong Kong, right? So in that sense, if you get a license in Hong Kong, it's to operate in Hong Kong.
Yeah.
Not to go to mainland China.
And what we see with the stablecoin regulation, it's very much focused on fiat-referenced stablecoins. So the Hong Kong regulation aims stablecoins to be either tied to the Hong Kong dollar, to the US dollar, or to the renminbi, right? The focus is that.
Well, Fernando, you mentioned that it's common law, and I think that's one of the reasons why a lot of European companies see Hong Kong as the gateway to Asia. What would be your feedback on that?
Well, I would say that for Europeans that plan to scale in Asia and to use Hong Kong as a launchpad to develop their business there, we always recommend them to follow the customer, you know, so the principle of follow the customer. So they are already working with banks and with financial service companies in Europe. So we always suggest them to talk to their existing customers, check if they have already a branch in Hong Kong, and try to expand their collaboration to Asia. So the most successful cases we have seen is when those companies have already like business relationships here and they follow them to Hong Kong.
And one addition to that is that we've also seen fintechs Make very good use of accelerator programs in Hong Kong, so that if you enter into an accelerator program, obviously the the organization that runs the program wants their alumni to do well, and it's often a way to meet investors and to really be in the picture. Also to find partners maybe in mainland China. So like Fernando said, follow the customer or try and enter into an acceleration program. Or participate in competitions. Also a great way to put yourself on stage.
It makes sense. And I'm thinking, I'm a regular visitor of the Hong Kong FinTech Week, so I'm thinking about Edo, the Dutch guy who was—
Knights Analytics. Yes.
Yeah. So he was on the Launchpad, and on the same day, I think he signed a couple of deals being in Hong Kong. So his journey started literally on the spot. In one of these events.
Yeah, correct.
Well, talking about innovation and sort of concrete things, there is cross-border payments and financial connectivity, which are both evolving quickly. Hong Kong being in the middle of that, what is the sort of opinion that they take and how do they actually look at this?
Well, if we look cross-border and we take that Hong Kong-Mainland China, Right? We see that a lot has been happening to make those connections easier. It started with Stock Connect, Hong Kong-Shanghai, Hong Kong-Shenzhen. Then came Bond Connect. Now there's Wealth Connect, which actually means that investors, private investors, consumers from the Greater Bay Area, 9 cities in the Chinese mainland, can invest directly in funds in Hong Kong. And Macau, but mostly that is Hong Kong, and also the other way around. So there is a continuing step-by-step prudent, very much looking every time. This is the plan we are rolling out. Does it work well? If it works well, we scale it up, right? But definitely to make that to make that easier, and what we see a lot is that mainland Chinese money comes to Hong Kong to then go international and to make. use of that enormous expertise in Hong Kong, also mentioned by Fernando. So many professionals who can, who can help, uh, uh, invest well and, uh, let the money not just stay the same but grow.
I guess many people are jealous about the job that you both have because you meet so many new inspiring startups, not only in finance but multi-vertical. So what are for you like early signs that you think these companies, they need to go, they're ready for expansion in Asia and in Hong Kong?
Well, I think normally if the founder has already been in Hong Kong visiting it, because it's something you need to experience yourself and go to one of these events we were mentioning, or they were working in the past in Asia, in China, in Hong Kong, that definitely helps to To open some doors there and to understand what's the business culture in Hong Kong. And then again, there are certain sectors that offer more opportunities. Payments is definitely one of them. Anything related to cryptocurrencies, to blockchain technology, those are sectors that are now growing very fast in Hong Kong and where you can Really fine opportunities.
And also everything, since Koen also was talking about other sectors, everything around e-commerce?
Oh, definitely, yes.
Trading, sourcing offices?
Yeah, also related to cross-payments, anything that has to do with e-commerce. We have the example, for example, of an Irish company called CurrencyFair. We helped them to set up in Hong Kong 4 or 5 years ago, and they're a payment company. And they made a deal with a Chinese business-to-business marketplace that helped them. They had already the branch in Hong Kong that helped them to develop the Chinese market and to use their payment software in China. So you can see that payments and anything related to e-commerce is big there, yeah.
It's a lot of people also, right? But talking a bit about people, how would you describe the innovation culture?
Of local Hong Kong people, I think the focus that we see that it's in Hong Kong and where there is a lot of business opportunities is the classic pillar sectors of Hong Kong plus tech. So financial services, fintech, right? Trading, all the tech for e-commerce and trading, business and professional services, all the type of tech if for accounting, for law firms, and lastly tourism even in that area. So every innovations first and foremost to strengthen the existing pillars in the Hong Kong economy. Then there's a growing wish to attract innovation and technology companies. We see there is a bit of a hesitation from Europe because the Cutting-edge tech sometimes is hesitant because they risk losing their IP in China. Exceptions to that are biotech and to some extent green tech, clean tech. And we're now talking— Fernando is talking to a Spanish company that is going to make use of the fact that there's a new science and technology park in Hong Kong shared between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. And they have, what was it again, the Association for Clinical Trials, right?
Exactly, yeah.
So if you can do clinical trials in Hong Kong and the GBA, maybe you can say a bit more about that.
Yeah, well, basically in this new science park that is being developed in the border between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, so there are a number of tools to access what we mentioned, the Greater Bay Area, right? So all these cities in China mainland, and for clinical trials, you can start in the science park and then develop them in those cities in the GBA. So yeah, it facilitates a lot the access to the Chinese mainland market.
We're heading towards the end of this podcast. So what I really like to hear is like one big success story. Is there anyone that you can share? There's a few that already came to the table, but what is the example that you can bring to the table?
Across sectors, or you want us to talk fintech financial services?
Up to you.
Well, one big one that I still very much like is the Groove Beek te Kamer Asset Management. So in the sector, a Belgian, a Belgian key player, joint venture with Offi from France. They opened an asset management company in Hong Kong in full COVID, and they're now 18 people. And what was very interesting, and I like that example for that reason, is that The the Depam people already hired Chinese analysts to learn how they want to do business here in Brussels, and then they were already hired for that Hong Kong team. So I think it's a beautiful example. Not only is it the European JV, right? But also one that made very smart use of European staff, Hong Kong staff, and mainland Chinese staff to offer that asset management service in Hong Kong. close to the companies they invest in, in Asia. Maybe Fernando has another cool example. I'm sure he has.
Well, I have a number of companies, especially—
Oh, here we go.
So I mentioned already CurrencyFair, but another Iris fintech was Fyneos in the insurtech subsector, let's say. And they opened a commercial office. Follow their customer from Europe. So we were very happy that they took our suggestion and they opened a commercial office there. And as I was saying, there at that time, I think Hong Kong was issuing 4 virtual insurance licenses. So they found it was the right timing for them to set up and they were able to sell their solution to this new Digital insurance companies that were starting their operations in Hong Kong.
Well, amazing stories. What rests me to ask you is two things: What are you actually looking? What will actually happen in the next couple of years ahead? And how will how can people contact you?
Well, people can contact us by either asking you, Koen, for our phone numbers, but we also have an easy website. What I see happening still at this moment, many markets in Asia are growing faster than in Europe. So I think every Belgian European company needs to have an Asia plan. So go check it out. Not every product or service is what we call China-able, right? Or Hong Kong-able.
China-able.
But go check it out. You know, it's the fastest growing part of the world. Check it out. Go to Hong Kong FinTech Week. Go to the Start Me Up Hong Kong Festival. Call us and we can help you when you make a trip to Hong Kong and you attend any other event. We can help you get other appointments. We have nine super sector teams in Hong Kong. Am I forgetting something, Fernando?
Well, some trend that we are seeing more and more is Chinese capital. Well, Chinese capital has been always using Hong Kong to. scout for startups abroad and they set up their international offices in Hong Kong to go abroad. But now with all the geopolitical tensions with the US, Chinese companies are really pushing to get in touch with more potential partners in Europe and they use Hong Kong to do so. So it's a good place to connect with them, definitely.
Well, I would say that that's a very nice closure. So all the European fintechs, check it out. Thank you very much for listening. Thank you also for having you both in our podcast. And stay tuned because more fintech news will follow on this podcast. Thank you very much.
Thanks, Koen.
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