International Finance Centre 國際金融中心
Central Hong Kong

The International Finance Centre (abbr. IFC, branded as 'ifc') is an integrated commercial development on the waterfront of Hong Kong's Central District.

A prominent landmark on Hong Kong Island, IFC consists of two skyscrapers, the IFC Mall, and the 55-story Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong. Tower 2 is the tallest building in Hong Kong, a title formerly held by Central Plaza. It is the third-tallest building in the Greater China region and the seventh-tallest office building in the world, based on structural heights; by roof height, only the Taipei 101, Shanghai World Financial Center, and Sears Tower exceed it. It is the exact height of the former World Trade Center. The International Commerce Centre, currently under construction above the MTR Kowloon station and scheduled for completion in 2010, will surpass 2IFC in each of these categories.

IFC was constructed and is owned by IFC Development, a consortium of Sun Hung Kai Properties, Henderson Land and Towngas.

The Airport Express Hong Kong Station is directly beneath it.

IFC as a Brand

ifc Tower 1 is also known as 1IFC and branded as 'IFC One'. Likewise, Tower 2 is also known as 2IFC and branded as 'IFC Two'.

1IFC opened in December 1998, towards the end of the Asian financial crisis. Tenants included ING Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, Fidelity Investments, the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority and the Financial Times.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority purchased 14 floors in 2IFC; the HK Mortgage Corporation signed a 12-year lease on 24,000-square-foot (2,200 m2); Nomura Group agreed to take 60,000 sq ft (5,600 m2) at 2 IFC; the Financial Times, an existing tenant at One IFC, took 10,000 sq ft (900 m2). Ernst & Young took six floors (from the 11th to 18th floors), or about 180,000 square feet (16,700 m2), in 2IFC, to become the biggest tenant.

2IFC, which was completed at the height of the SARS epidemic, was initially available to rent at HK$25-HK$35 per square foot. In 2007, as the economy has improved, high quality ('Grade A') office space is highly sought after, rents for current leases are $150 per square foot as of March 2007.

One International Finance Centre

One International Finance Centre was completed in 1998 and opened in 1999. It is 210 m tall, has 38 storys and four trading floors, 18 high speed passenger lifts in 4 zones, and comprises 784,000 square feet (72,850 m²). It is similar in design and appearance to the Goldman Sachs Tower. The building currently accommodates approximately 5,000 people.

Notable tenants

* 3i
* Bain & Company
* ING Group
* Macquarie Group
* Moody's Corporation
* Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
* Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication
* Starbucks

Two International Finance Centre

Two International Finance Centre, completed in 2003, is attached to the second phase of the ifc mall. This 415 m tall building, currently Hong Kong's tallest, is quoted as having 88 storys and 22 high-ceiling trading floors to qualify as being extremely auspicious in Chinese culture. It is, however, short of the magic number, due to the fact that 'taboo floors' like 14th and 24th etc. are omitted as being inauspicious - 14 sounds like 'definitely fatal' and 24 like 'easily fatal' in Cantonese.

The highrise is designed to accommodate financial institutions. For example, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is located at the 55th floor. It is equipped with advanced telecommunications, raised floors for flexible cabling management, and nearly column-free floor plans. The building expects to accommodate up to 15,000 people. It is one of relatively few buildings in the world equipped with double-deck elevators.

The 55th, 56th and the 77th to 88th floors were bought by the HKMA for US$ 480 million in 2001. An exhibition area, currently containing an exhibit of Hong Kong's monetary history, and a library of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority Information Centre occupy the 55th floor, and are open to the public during office hours. The 88th floor of the tower contains the office of Joseph Yam, the Chief Executive of the HK Monetary Authority, and is served by an individual lift. As a public officer, it is doubtful whether Mr. Yam should enjoy this luxury. It is also controversial whether the Hong Kong Monetary Authority should occupy the most expensive office space in Hong Kong using taxpayers' money.

Despite common practice for owners to allow naming buildings after its important tenants - the building accommodates some very prestigious tenants - the owners decided not to allow renaming of the building in fairness to all.

Notable Tenants

* Bank of America
* BBVA
* BNP Paribas
* Ernst & Young
* Hong Kong Monetary Authority
* Lehman Brothers
* Mallesons Stephen Jaques
* Nomura International
* SinoPac
* Texas Pacific Group
* The Blackstone Group
* UBS AG

IFC Mall

The IFC Mall is located directly above the Hong Kong MTR Station and provides an indoor connection for the two office buildings (One IFC and Two IFC) and the Four Seasons Hotel. The IFC Mall houses over 200 different brands and features a number of top fashion, health & skin care, jewellery and accessory shops, restaurants, a number of cafés (such as Starbucks, Pacific Coffee Company) and a cinema. It also features Hong Kong's third c!ty'super store, a high-end supermarket.

Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong

The Four Seasons Hotel is a five-star luxury hotel that was completed and opened in October in 2005. The 206 m (674 ft), 60-story oceanfront hotel is the only Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong. The hotel has 399 guest suites, and 513 service apartments. Amenities include what is claimed to be a world-class French restaurant Caprice and spa. It is the largest Four Seasons Hotel.

The IFC in pop culture

The Two IFC buildings was featured in the Hollywood movie Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, in which Lara Croft and Terry Sheridan leap off it. The building was also used for filming in the 2008 Batman film, The Dark Knight, in a scene where Batman jumps off the building.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority 香港金融管理局  or HKMA 金管局

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (traditional Chinese: 香港金融管理局) or HKMA (金管局) is Hong Kong's central banking institution (more precisely, currency board). It is a government authority founded on 1 April 1993 via the consolidation of 'Office of the Exchange Fund' and the 'Office of the Commissioner of Banking'. The organization reports directly to the Financial Secretary.

The International Finance Centre, located in Central, Hong Kong, houses the HKMA's headquarters.

The fund was established and managed originally by the 'Currency Ordinance' in 1935. It is now named the 'Exchange Fund Ordinance'.

Under the Exchange Fund Ordinance, the HKMA's primary objective is to ensure the stability of the Hong Kong currency, and the banking system. It is also responsible for promoting the efficiency, integrity and development of the financial system.

The HKMA issues banknotes only in the denomination of ten Hong Kong dollars. The role of issuing other banknotes is delegated to the note-issuing banks in the territory, namely the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, Standard Chartered Bank and the Bank of China.

Policies

The official reserves of Hong Kong and the banking system are important underpinnings of the Linked Exchange Rate System.

Tools

Since 1995, the HKMA has entered into a stability pact with central banks in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Australia to engage in repurchase agreements, which provide liquidity on a two-way basis.

Infrastructure

The Central Money markets Unit (CMU), established in the 1990, provide computerized clearing and settlement facilities for Exchange Fund Bills and Notes. It extended the service to other Hong Kong dollar debt securities in late 1993. A seamless interface allow the co-existence of the CMU and the newly launched Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) inter-bank payment system. This enables end-of-day 'Delivery Versus Payment' services as opposed to Non-DVP.

Monetary stability

Currency board system

It is included the Linked Exchange Rate System and noticeable features such as the Aggregate Balance, Certificates of Indebtedness and coins issued and the Outstanding Exchange Fund Bills and Notes.

The Interest Rate Adjustment Mechanism is an automatic system that maintains the stability of the Hong Kong dollar exchange rate. Lately the HKMA has been disclosing the forecast change in the Aggregate Balance attributes to increase the transparency of the Currency Board operation.

In 1995, Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman mistakenly predicted the Hong Kong dollar's demise within two years of the 1997 handover. He also predicted the absorption of the territory's financial reserves of US$43 billion (HK$335.4 billion) by Beijing, which would not be able to bear the subrogation of Hong Kong's monetary policy to the United States.

As with any monetary system not based on a fiat money (which includes currency boards, currency unions and the traditional Gold Standard) it is impossible to use monetary policy in order to stabilize the business cycle: this means that any macroeconomic adjustment has to be achieved by changes in the prices of assets and labour. In Hong Kong, this is made easier by two factors: the first is the openness of the economy, with an aggregate demand heavily dependent on international trading partners; this reduces the risk of classic liquidity traps. The second factor is the scarce political clout of the trade unions, which makes it easier to trim the nominal salaries during recessionary times. Moreover, the high saving rates and the moral stigma attached to bankruptcy have kept relatively low the level of defaults on mortgages even during the deep recessions after the Asian crisis after 1998 and the SARS epidemic in 2002/2003.

Exchange fund

The fund was established and managed originally by the 'Currency Ordinance' in 1935. It is now named the 'Exchange Fund Ordinance'.

Under colonial rule, the HKMA did not place funds with local banks not rated by Moody's Investors Service or Standard & Poor's. Only the three note issuing banks could receive deposits because they had been rated by 'objective international standards'.

During the Asian financial crisis, currency speculators sold the Hong Kong dollar heavily and shorted local stocks and Hang Seng Index futures. The government controversially used the exchange fund to acquire HK$120 billion (US$15 billion) worth of blue-chip shares in a two-week market intervention, beginning 12 August 1998 with the aim of punishing and deterring currency speculators. The intervention was widely criticised as being detrimental to the reputation as one of the world's financial centres. Instead of being a regulator, the government has become 'a player, a very key player.'

In hindsight, one speculator said: 'Government intervention raised public confidence in the market when it was near total collapse. It prevented a bigger crisis and saved the market.

Most stocks acquired during that operation were successively disposed with the creation of a tracker fund, the TraHK. That reduced the portfolio of HK equities to 5.3% of the reserves in 2003. However, the percentage crept back and had risen above 10% by the year 2006.

In August 1998, as part of its wider remit to protect the currency, the Authority lent the Thai Government US$1 billion from the fund as part of a 17 billion bailout organised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Banking stability

Banking Stability mainly depends on the 'Banking System and Supervision'. A 'Three-Tier System' was implemented in the 1980s. Institutions are also managed different depending one whether they are categorized as Licensed Banks, Restricted License Bank or Deposit-taking Institutions. Overseas banks may also establish local representative offices in Hong Kong.

Location

The HKMA's is headquartered in the International Finance Centre. It purchased 14 floors in tower 2. The 55th, 56th and the 77th to 88th floors were bought for US$ 480 million in 2001. An exhibition area, currently containing an exhibit of Hong Kong's monetary history, and a library of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority Information Centre occupy the 55th floor. The 88th floor of the tower contains the office of the Chief Executive of the HK Monetary Authority, and is served by an individual lift.

The Chief Executive's Committee

Joseph Yam has been the Chief Executive since the founding of HKMA in April 1993.

Other

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority hosted the meeting of the World Bank and IMF in 1997, at an estimated cost of HK$485 million. Yam hoped that hosting the event would cement Hong Kong's status as an international financial centre. He added: 'The presence of the world's leading finance ministers, central bank governors and top commercial bankers in Hong Kong so soon after the change of sovereignty will help boost international and local confidence in Hong Kong.