Hong Kong’s securities regulator reported a spike in the number of instances where the city’s financial firms are failing to comply with its anti-money laundering guidelines. The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), which stepped up scrutiny of laundering controls amid pressure to combat illicit fund flows, said its inspections found 223 rule-breaches during the year […]

  Four Hongkongers were arrested as police cracked a money laundering racket involving a staggering HK$1.8 billion. In February 2012, police received reports from two firms in Sweden and the Netherlands saying someone had posed as their business partners in emails and asked them to deposit payments into a Hong Kong bank account of a […]

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has reprimanded and fined the brokerage arm of global financial institution HK$18.5 million over internal control failures in relation to conflicts of interest, insufficient documentation of its electronic trading systems, reporting failures in relation to short selling orders and large open positions, and breach of position limits. […]

The (HKMA) has issued a circular to provide general guidance on proper cyber security risk management for authorised institutions in Hong Kong. The circular says that the Board and senior management of an authorised institution are expected to play a proactive role in ensuring effective cyber security risk management in their institution, including the following […]

In the recent case of HKSAR v Pang Hung Fai (FACC 8/2013), the Court of Final Appeal (the CFA) offered, for the first time, authoritative guidance on the mental element of “having reasonable grounds to believe” under section 25(1) of the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance (Cap 455) (the OSCO). Section 25(1) makes it an […]

PetroChina’s supplier Wison Engineering Services Co Ltd and its chairman Hua Bangsong have both been found guilty of paying bribes, the company said in a Hong Kong stock exchange filing. A Chinese court has ordered Wison to pay a fine of 30 million yuan ($4.83 million) and sentenced the chairman to 36 months in jail […]

The U.S. Department of Justice Tax Division and the Internal Revenue Service have been ramping up an intense crackdown on offshore tax evasion, and the IRS’s reduced resources due to new budget cuts is having no effect on IRS enforcement initiatives in this area. The government’s reach has extended far beyond Switzerland, where it is […]

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has issued a circular reminding intermediaries of the importance of appropriate account opening procedures for investors in and outside Hong Kong in order to fully comply with the know your client (KYC) and account opening procedures requirements under The Code of Conduct for Persons Licensed by or […]