Hong Kong together with London and New York is acknowledged to be one of the highest respected financial centres in the world. It is one of the world’s busiest cities and its efficiency as a financial centre and as a hub for transacting business in Asia is world-renowned.
Hong Kong is the leading Asian centre for both finance and commerce and ranks as the world’s third largest financial centre after New York and London. There are over 135 licensed banks with over 120 foreign banks having representative offices in Hong Kong and a further 39 licensed deposit taking Finance Companies, all of which play an active role in the financing of international trade and commerce.
Hong Kong is not normally regarded as an offshore country as it is a famous for being a major financial centre, however, it is one of the few countries in the world that tax on a territorial basis. Many countries levy corporate income tax on a different basis and they tax the world-wide profits of a business, which includes profits derived from activities outside of the country. Unlike other Asian countries such as Japan, Korea, Thailand, India and China; Hong Kong does not have any exchange or capital controls which therefore allow funds to flow freely in and out of the territory.