In recent years, the Asian financial market has grown in significance and Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore are all striving for an increasing share in the market. In this article the authors examine the strengths and weaknesses of the three centres and discuss the role of each. It appears that Tokyo will become the primary Asian financial centre, with Hong Kong acting as a regional centre focusing on business with China, and Singapore likely to develop a market niche in special financial instruments and on serving the Southeast Asia market. The authors analyse the implications of these developments on the marketing strategies of different types of banks in Hong Kong.