According to ME News, on December 20th (UTC+8), Leung Ting-bong, former Chairman of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, shared his views on the development of smart finance and artificial intelligence in Hong Kong and Macau at the Xiangmihu Financial Annual Conference in Shenzhen. He pointed out that smart finance in Hong Kong and Macau has already covered five sectors: banking, securities, insurance, cross-border finance, and electronic payments. In promoting the application of artificial intelligence in traditional finance, Hong Kong does not simply rely on Large Language Models (LLM), but rather adopts a multi-layered, multi-architecture technology integration strategy, including blockchain.
From a financial regulatory perspective, Leung Ting-pong stated that "big data" remains the foundation for fintech applications in Hong Kong, while "big models" are just one component. Since 2019, Hong Kong has introduced various technological means such as "big data" analysis, expert systems, and machine learning into its regulatory framework. In core business operations, regulatory agencies prioritize the use of verifiable and traceable underlying real data, while big models are mostly used for auxiliary and back-office tasks.
Liang Dingbang cautioned that due to the ongoing "illusion" risk inherent in large-scale models, a cautious approach must be taken towards AI in financial regulation and institutional business scenarios. He stated that the application of generative AI in front-office operations involving direct customer interaction remains cautious, primarily focusing on back-office support functions such as risk management and data analysis. Even so, final decisions must still be made by the risk management committee and risk officers, combining their personal experience with multi-dimensional data, and cannot rely entirely on model outputs.
Leung Ting-pong stated that Hong Kong maintains a highly open attitude towards the development of smart finance, but it is necessary to strictly ensure the authenticity of data and the controllability of risks in client-side and core businesses to ensure the safety and stability of the financial system.
Leung Ting-bong was the first Chinese chairman of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission. He served as a council member of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in the 1990s and spearheaded the design of the legal framework for Chinese companies listing in Hong Kong. (Source: ME)
