Hong Kong

SWIFT recently announced the appointment of Lisa O’Connor as Head of Standards, Asia Pacific, based in Hong Kong. As the adoption of financial messaging standards is gaining traction in the region, O’Connor takes over the standards team in the region that was led by Alexandre Kech - Head of Securities Markets & Standards, Asia Pacific for the last five years. She will report into Philippe Dirckx, Managing Director, Head of Markets & Initiatives, Asia Pacific.

But the strength was not homogenous throughout.

It's down USD11.8 billion on 2015.

And operating profit is down 12% to HK$9,516m.

An analyst gives 3 reasons behind this assessment.

Hong Kong's yuan banking business is thriving.

Mortgage loans of Hong Kong banks only totalled US$144b in 2016.

Total capital ratio came in at 19.4% in September 2016.

It allows private banking clients to view their portfolios anywhere.

The sector is suffering from its mainland exposure.

According to a recent global survey of how banks approach risk management,1 Asian bank executives are thinking differently about future risk priorities than their global peers. This divergence reflects the region’s less interventionist regulatory environment and more robust digital environment.

Downside risks to the banks' balance sheets loom.

Loan growth to mainland state-owned entities came in at 4 .4% in September 2016.

The largest banks will benefit from strong domestic deposit bases.

Weakness of the Chinese yuan is one.

Banks could expect greater government support in 2017.