We assess the effectiveness of macroprudential policies against a number of different indicators of property sector activity and financial stability. At the cross-country level the use of LTV caps decelerates property price growth. Both LTV and DTI caps slow property lending growth. LTV caps...

Geography continues to shape the character and promise of Hong Kong's financial sector. Its physical and human links to the heartland of China made it a natural center for trade in goods and services. And when trade between nations mediated by merchant companies was largely transformed by the...

How can international financial centres like Hong Kong increase assets under management – and thus their size and ranking? Most policymakers and their advisors wrongly answer this question by focusing on financial institutions, and the law that governs them. Instead, policymakers need to start...

A crucial element in the complex chain of factors that caused the recent financial crisis was the lack of regulation and oversight in the shadow banking sector, which is largely incorporated in offshore financial centers (OFCs). But instead of swift and radical regulatory reform in that sector...