International Finance Centre
Encyclopedia
The International Finance Centre (abbr. IFC, branded as "ifc") is an integrated commercial development on the waterfront of Hong Kong's Central District
Central and Western District
The Central and Western District located on northern part of Hong Kong Island is one of the 18 administrative districts of Hong Kong. It had a population of 261,884 in 2001...

.

A prominent landmark on Hong Kong Island
Hong Kong Island
Hong Kong Island is an island in the southern part of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km², as of 2008...

, IFC consists of two skyscrapers, the IFC Mall, and the 55-story Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong
Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong
Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong is a five-star hotel building in Sun Hung Kai Properties-owned International Finance Centre, Central, Hong Kong that was completed and opened in September 2005. It is a 45-storey building offering 399 rooms and 519 residential units...

. Tower 2 is the second tallest building in Hong Kong, behind the International Commerce Centre
International Commerce Centre
The International Commerce Centre is a 108 floor, skyscraper completed in 2010 in West Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is a part of the Union Square project built on top of Kowloon Station. The development is owned and jointly developed by MTR Corporation Limited and Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong...

 in West Kowloon. It is the fourth-tallest building in the Greater China region
Greater China
Greater China is a term used to refer to mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. As a "phrase of the moment", the precise meaning is not entirely clear, and people may use it for only the commercial ties, only the cultural actions, or even as a euphemism for the Two Chinas, while others may...

 and the eighth-tallest office building in the world, based on structural heights; by roof height, only the Taipei 101
Taipei 101
Taipei 101 , formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a landmark skyscraper located in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan. The building ranked officially as the world's tallest from 2004 until the opening of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2010...

, Shanghai World Financial Center
Shanghai World Financial Center
The most distinctive feature in the design of the building is an aperture at the peak. The original design specified a circular aperture, in diameter, to reduce the stresses of wind pressure, as well as serve as a subtext for the design, since "Chinese mythology represents the earth with a square...

, Willis Tower, International Commerce Centre
International Commerce Centre
The International Commerce Centre is a 108 floor, skyscraper completed in 2010 in West Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is a part of the Union Square project built on top of Kowloon Station. The development is owned and jointly developed by MTR Corporation Limited and Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong...

 and Burj Khalifa exceed it. It is of similar height to the former World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...

. The Airport Express
Airport Express (MTR)
The Airport Express is one of the lines of the Mass Transit Railway serving Hong Kong. It links the principal urban areas of Hong Kong to Hong Kong International Airport and the associated AsiaWorld-Expo exhibition and convention centre....

 Hong Kong Station is directly beneath it.

IFC was constructed and is owned by IFC Development, a consortium of Sun Hung Kai Properties, Henderson Land
Henderson Land Development
Henderson Land Development Co. Ltd. is a listed property company and a constituent of the Hang Seng Index. The company's principal activities are property development and investment, project management, construction, hotel operation, department store operation, finance, investment holding and...

 and Towngas
The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited
The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited , commonly known as Towngas, is the sole provider of towngas in Hong Kong. Founded in 1862, it is one of the oldest listed companies in the territory....

.

In 2003, Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....

, HSBC
HSBC
HSBC Holdings plc is a global banking and financial services company headquartered in Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom. it is the world's second-largest banking and financial services group and second-largest public company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine...

, and Cathay Pacific
Cathay Pacific
Cathay Pacific is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport, although the airline's registered office is on the 33rd floor of One Pacific Place...

 put up an advertisement on the facade that stretched more than 50 storeys, covering an area of 19,000 m² (0.2 million square ft) and a length of 230 m, making it the world's largest advertisement ever put on a skyscraper.

IFC as a brand

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
ING Group
The ING Group is a global financial institution offering retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, asset management, and insurance services. ING is the Dutch member of the Inter-Alpha Group of Banks, a cooperative consortium of 11 prominent European banks...

, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
is a Japanese bank based in Yurakucho, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is a member of the Sumitomo Group and Mitsui Group. As of the year 2009, SMBC was the second largest bank in Japan in terms of assets.-History:...

, Fidelity International, the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority
Mandatory provident fund
The Mandatory Provident Fund , often abbreviated as MPF , is a compulsory saving scheme for the retirement of residents in Hong Kong...

  and the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....

.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority or HKMA is Hong Kong's central banking institution . 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"...

 purchased 14 floors in 2IFC; the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation signed a 12-year lease on 24000 square feet (2,229.7 m²); Nomura Group
Nomura Group
The formerly Nomura zaibatsu is a company headquartered in Chuo, Tokyo.Nomura is one of the major industrial and financial conglomerate groupings of Japan. Osaka Nomura bank was founded by Tokushichi Nomura II in 1919 after many successful business ventures; it was established on the Mitsui...

 agreed to take 60000 sq ft (5,574.2 m²) at 2 IFC; the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....

, an existing tenant at One IFC, took 10000 sq ft (929 m²). Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms, along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers ....

 took six floors (from the 11th to 18th floors), or about 180000 square feet (16,722.5 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.

The IFC's towers have featured in several Hollywood films, including Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life is a 2003 action film directed by Jan de Bont, and starring Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft. It is a sequel to the 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider...

, where Lara Croft leaps off the then-under-construction 2 International Finance Centre, landing on a ship out in the Kowloon Bay, and The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight (film)
The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed, produced and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is part of Nolan's Batman film series and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins...

, where Batman leapt from 2 IFC to 1 IFC, where an action scene then takes place.

One International Finance Centre

One International Finance Centre was completed in 1998 and opened in 1999. It is 688 ft/210 m tall, has 39 storeys 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.

Tenants

  • Bain & Company
    Bain & Company
    Bain & Company is a global management consulting firm headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Bain is considered one of the most prestigious consulting firms in the world, with 47 offices in 30 countries and over 5,500 professionals on staff globally...

    , 30/F
  • Fidelity International, 17/F
  • ING Group
    ING Group
    The ING Group is a global financial institution offering retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, asset management, and insurance services. ING is the Dutch member of the Inter-Alpha Group of Banks, a cooperative consortium of 11 prominent European banks...

    , 39/F
  • Hamburg-Sud, 36/F
  • Macquarie Group
    Macquarie Group
    Macquarie Group Limited is a global investment banking and diversified financial services group, providing banking, financial, advisory, investment and funds management services to institutional, corporate and retail clients and counterparties around the world...

    , 18/F
  • Moody's Corporation, 25/F, Suite 2510
  • Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
    Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
    is a Japanese bank based in Yurakucho, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is a member of the Sumitomo Group and Mitsui Group. As of the year 2009, SMBC was the second largest bank in Japan in terms of assets.-History:...

    , 7/F – 8/F (2 Floors)
  • Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication
    Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication
    The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication operates a worldwide financial messaging network which exchanges messages between banks and other financial institutions...

    , 31/F

Two International Finance Centre

Two International Finance Centre, completed in 2003, is attached to the second phase of the ifc mall. This 415-metre-tall building, currently Hong Kong's second tallest, is quoted as having 88 storeys 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 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
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority or HKMA is Hong Kong's central banking institution . 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"...

 (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 elevator
Double-deck elevator
Double-deck elevators are designed with two elevator cars that are attached, one on top of the other. This allows passengers on two consecutive floors to be able to use the elevator simultaneously, significantly increasing the passenger capacity of an elevator shaft...

s.

The 55th, 56th and the 77th to 88th floors were bought by the HKMA for USUS$ 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.

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.

Tenants

  • Apple, Inc.
  • Bank of America
    Bank of America
    Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...

    , 42/F
  • Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria
    Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria
    Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. is a multinational Spanish banking group. It was formed in 1999 from the merger of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya and Argentaria, both of which in turn had previously amalgamated three important banks in Spain, namely Banco de Bilbao, Banco de Vizcaya, Banco Exterior de...

    , 10/F and 43/F
  • BNP Paribas
    BNP Paribas
    BNP Paribas S.A. is a global banking group, headquartered in Paris, with its second global headquarters in London. In October 2010 BNP Paribas was ranked by Bloomberg and Forbes as the largest bank and largest company in the world by assets with over $3.1 trillion. It was formed through the merger...

    , 59/F – 64/F (6 Floors)
  • Blackstone Group
    Blackstone Group
    The Blackstone Group L.P. is an American-based alternative asset management and financial services company that specializes in private equity, real estate, and credit and marketable alternative investment strategies, as well as financial advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions ,...

    , 9/F, Suite 901
  • Chinatrust, 28/F
  • Commerzbank AG, 29/F
  • Ernst & Young
    Ernst & Young
    Ernst & Young is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms, along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers ....

    , 11/F, 17/F and 18/F (3 Floors)
  • Financial Times
    Financial Times
    The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....

    , 29/F
  • General Atlantic
    General Atlantic
    General Atlantic is a private equity investment firm. The firm invests through growth capital injections, control buyouts, industry consolidations, build-ups, recapitalizations, and PIPEs...

    , 58/F
  • Henderson Land Development Company Limited
    Henderson Land Development
    Henderson Land Development Co. Ltd. is a listed property company and a constituent of the Hang Seng Index. The company's principal activities are property development and investment, project management, construction, hotel operation, department store operation, finance, investment holding and...

    , 71/F - 76/F
  • Hong Kong Monetary Authority
    Hong Kong Monetary Authority
    The Hong Kong Monetary Authority or HKMA is Hong Kong's central banking institution . 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"...

    , 55/F, Part of 56/F, 77/F – 88/F (14 Floors)
    (Another part of 56/F is using for Lift Transfer Level but no any public linkways to connect these two area on 56/F, escalators to 56/F HKMA Office via 55/F entrance)
  • Mallesons Stephen Jaques
    Mallesons Stephen Jaques
    Mallesons Stephen Jaques is a commercial law firm that operates in the Asia-Pacific region. It is one of the 30 largest law firms in Australia, and is widely regarded as one of the top commercial law firms in Australia.-Offices:...

    , 37/F
  • MTR Corporation Limited
    MTR Corporation
    MTR Corporation Limited is a company listed on the Hong Kong Exchange and included in the Hang Seng Index. MTR owns and runs the Hong Kong MTR metro system, and is also a major property developer and landlord in Hong Kong...

     Central 18 Zone at Two IFC, 33/F- 52/F
  • Nomura International
    Nomura Group
    The formerly Nomura zaibatsu is a company headquartered in Chuo, Tokyo.Nomura is one of the major industrial and financial conglomerate groupings of Japan. Osaka Nomura bank was founded by Tokushichi Nomura II in 1919 after many successful business ventures; it was established on the Mitsui...

    , 22/F, 25/F - 27/F, 30/F - 32/F
  • Sidley Austin
    Sidley Austin
    Sidley Austin LLP, formerly known as Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLP, is one of the oldest law firms in the world. It is the sixth-largest U.S.-based corporate law firm with more than 1,650 lawyers, annual revenues of more than one billion dollars, and offices in 17 cities worldwide, with the most...

    , 39/F
  • Silver Lake Partners
    Silver Lake Partners
    Silver Lake is a US-based private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments in technology, technology-enabled and related industries...

    , 33/F
  • SinoPac
    Bank Sinopac
    Bank SinoPac, or SinoPac Financial Holdings Company Ltd, is a Taiwan-based banking holding company which operates through 18 divisions and 129 branches in Taiwan.-History:...

    , 23/F
  • Standard Chartered Bank
    Standard Chartered Bank
    Standard Chartered PLC is a multinational financial services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom with operations in more than seventy countries...

    , 12/F, 15/F
  • State Street Bank, 68/F - 70/F, Suite 7006 - 7012
  • Texas Pacific Group
    Texas Pacific Group
    TPG Capital is one of the largest private equity investment firms globally, focused on leveraged buyout, growth capital and leveraged recapitalization investments in distressed companies and turnaround situations. TPG also manages investment funds specializing in growth capital, venture capital,...

    , 57/F
  • UBS AG
    UBS AG
    UBS AG is a Swiss global financial services company headquartered in Basel and Zürich, Switzerland, which provides investment banking, asset management, and wealth management services for private, corporate, and institutional clients worldwide, as well as retail clients in Switzerland...

    , 45/F - 52/F
  • Warburg Pincus
    Warburg Pincus
    Warburg Pincus, LLC is an American private equity firm with offices in the United States, Europe, Brazil and Asia. It has been a private equity investor since 1966...

    , 63/F

Shopping

Standing 4-storey-high, ifc mall houses over 200 international premium brands offering fashion, jewelry and accessories, personal care and beauty, books, arts and gifts, food and beverages, electrical appliances and sundries, and entertainment to cater the various needs of shoppers. Fans for design must see BALLY, BURBERRY, CERRUTI 1881, Chopard, Ermenegildo Zegna, HUGO BOSS, Montblanc, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, TOM FORD, VALENTINO and Tiffany & Co.; while those who look for exclusivity should explore Lane Crawford, the luxurious department store, Agnès b. LA LOGGIA, the first-ever Agnès b. flagship store in the world and also ZARA’s, 15000 square feet (1,393.5 m²) store, the largest in the city.

The shopping spree is further enhanced by ifc’s introduction of many “the-firsts” in Hong Kong and new concept stores, namely Aldo, Giuseppe Zanotti, Melvita, and Moncler.

The first Apple Store in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 (which also became Apple’s 100th store outside the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

) opened on September 24, 2011, occupying Podium 1 and 2 of ifc mall.

Dining

ifc mall is also home to a wide range of restaurants and bars for all tastes and all budgets, highlighted by its housing of Lung King Heen
Lung King Heen
Lung King Heen is a Chinese restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel, Hong Kong.It is the only Cantonese restaurant in Hong Kong that has been awarded maximum three Michelin stars by the 2008 Hong Kong and Macau edition of the Michelin Guide.-External links:*...

 and Caprice
Caprice (restaurant)
Caprice is a contemporary French haute cuisine restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel, Hong Kong.-Chef:Vincent Thierry is the opening and current chef de cuisine; he was the sous chef of Le Cinq from Four Seasons.-Decor:...

, who had been awarded three Michelin stars and also the Michelin recommended restaurant Tasty Congee & Noodle Wantun Shop. Other restaurants include Agnès b. le pain grille, Cuisine Cuisine, H One, Inagiku, Lei Garden, Rei, simplylife BREAD AND WINE and The French Window.

Events

Apart from offering all-year-long shopping and dining opportunities, ifc also joins hands with different parties to wow shoppers with various “unexpected” events. Every new year starts with the countdown firework jointly presented by ifc and Hong Kong Tourism Board
Hong Kong Tourism Board
The Hong Kong Tourism Board is a Government-subvented body founded in 2001. The Board replaced the Hong Kong Tourist Association established in 1957...

, while the calendar of the year will be filled with thematic exhibitions staged at the Oval Atrium of the mall. Remarkable ones are the first-ever out-of-museum exhibition— Pablo Picasso's Largest Masterpiece 'Parade' Inaugural Exhibition in Asia, Hong Kong’s first-ever in-mall Broadway style acrobatic shows, the groundbreaking multi-perspective fashion & photo exhibition “FASHION MOMENT” and the National Geographic “The Big Blue Exhibition” showcasing Asia's first life-size sculpture of a baby blue whale, cultivating public’s appreciation of art, culture and environmental issues.

Transportations

ifc mall is easily accessible from all forms of public transport, including the fastest rail link from city centre to international airport. The Airport Express, with its in-town check-in facilities, departs from Hong Kong Station located in ifc. Moreover, the MTR and the Star Ferry connecting to other major districts in Hong Kong are available in nearby areas. 1800 parking spaces are also provided to cater the needs of the shoppers.

Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong

The Four Seasons Hotel is a luxury hotel that was built near the IFC One and Two. It was completed and opened in October in 2005. The 206 m (674 ft), 60-storey oceanfront hotel is the only Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong. The hotel has 399 guest suites, and 519 serviced apartments. Amenities include a French restaurant Caprice
Caprice (restaurant)
Caprice is a contemporary French haute cuisine restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel, Hong Kong.-Chef:Vincent Thierry is the opening and current chef de cuisine; he was the sous chef of Le Cinq from Four Seasons.-Decor:...

 and spa.

See also



External links

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