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Modern Financial Services Industry
  • The financial industry in Macao has stable assets, robust capital adequacy ratio, sufficient liquidity and good profitability, and an increasingly high degree of internationalisation.
  • Macao has been promoting the development of the financial industry with an emphasis attached to the development of bond market, wealth management, financial leasing and cross-border financial business. While striving to become engaged in and serve the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Macao is committed to establishing itself as the Financial Service Platform between China and Portuguese-speaking countries and contributing to the “Belt and Road” construction.
  • As stipulated in the Legal Regime for Monetary Issuance which will take effect as of 1 September 2023, the legal tender of the Macao SAR consists of paper money, coin and digital currency. The legal regime of digital currency is subject to specific regulations and rules, which provide legal foundation for digital currency.
  • With the support of the central government and by adopting the cutting-edge digital currency technology from the central bank, the Monetary Authority of Macao is carrying out research and development work on the digital currency “e-MOP”.

 

Banking

  • As of the end of the second quarter of 2024, the banking sector’s total current assets stood at MOP 2,440.8 billion, the capital adequacy ratio was 14.2%, and the non-performing loan rate was 4.6%.

     

 Insurance 

  • As of the end of the second quarter of 2024, the insurance sector’s total current assets totalled MOP 272.7 billion. In the second quarter of 2024, the gross premiums were MOP 20.9 billion, recording a profit of MOP 3.09 billion. The solvency reserve ratio of life insurance companies was 442.2%, while that of general insurance companies was 506.8%.

     

 Bond Market

  • Chongwa (Macao) Financial Asset Exchange Co. Ltd. (MOX) was established in October 2018. By mid-November 2024, over MOP 4 billion of various bonds, including national bonds, financial bonds, corporate bonds and green bonds, had been listed. The bonds had covered a range of currencies, such as Renminbi, US dollars and Hong Kong dollars.
  • In October 2024, the Ministry of Finance of the People’s Republic of China issued 5 billion RMB sovereign bonds in Macao for the fourth time after the previous issuances in 2019, 2022 and 2023. The Ministry of Finance’s bond issuance in Macao will accelerate the integration of Macao’s bond market with the international community, promote the gradual improvement of Macao’s bond market infrastructure, and further consolidate the collaboration between the mainland and Macao in the financial field.

 

Wealth Management

  • As of the end of 2023, there were over 510,000 wealth management clients in Macao, with an investment portfolio of MOP 224.2 billion in market value.
  • In February 2021, the “Memorandum of Understanding on the Launch of the Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect Pilot Scheme in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area” was signed by financial authorities of the mainland, Macao and Hong Kong. The Monetary Authority of Macao published the revised “Implementation Arrangements for the Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect Pilot Scheme in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area” in January 2024, which mainly include optimisation measures such as the optimised access conditions for “Southbound Scheme” investors, the expanded scope of the participating institutions, the expanded scope of eligible financial products and increased individual investment limits.
  • Law No. 15/2022 “Trust Law” came into force on 1 December 2022, helping financial institutions to provide investment and wealth management products in the form of trust.
  • In order to enrich the wealth management business, the Monetary Authority of Macao issued the Guidelines for Management and Operation of Private Equity Investment Funds in January 2022, and is currently revising the “Law of Funds” to further clarify the regulatory framework for private equity funds, laying a foundation for the long-term development of fund businesses.

 

List of financial institutions in Macao, please visit here