Latest news with #HongKongMonetaryAuthority
Economic Times
19 hours ago
- Business
- Economic Times
IOB's Hong Kong unit fined over compliance breach
Mumbai: Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) on Tuesday has fined the Hong Kong unit of Indian Overseas Bank HK$8,500,000 as penalty for failing to comply with regulations covering money laundering and counterterrorist financing. ADVERTISEMENT It ordered the bank to conduct a review of its past transactions and implement measures to address contraventions and its compliance shortcomings. HKMA stated that the disciplinary actions follow investigations into bank's systems and controls for compliance with the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing ordinance (AMLO). "The control deficiencies identified related to failures to establish and maintain effective procedures for continuously monitoring business relationships with customers," HKMA stated. (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel)
Time of India
19 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
IOB's Hong Kong unit fined over compliance breach
Mumbai: Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) on Tuesday has fined the Hong Kong unit of Indian Overseas Bank HK$8,500,000 as penalty for failing to comply with regulations covering money laundering and counterterrorist financing . It ordered the bank to conduct a review of its past transactions and implement measures to address contraventions and its compliance shortcomings. HKMA stated that the disciplinary actions follow investigations into bank's systems and controls for compliance with the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing ordinance (AMLO). "The control deficiencies identified related to failures to establish and maintain effective procedures for continuously monitoring business relationships with customers," HKMA stated. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Libas Purple Days Sale Libas Undo
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Business Standard
a day ago
- Business
- Business Standard
HKMA penalises IOB's Hong Kong branch for breaching AML regulations
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority imposes a penalty on Indian Overseas Bank's Hong Kong branch for violating anti-money laundering regulations from May 2021 to January 2024 BS Reporter Mumbai Indian Overseas Bank's Hong Kong Branch (IOB-HK) was penalised for not complying with the region's Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (AMLO) between May 2021 to January 2024, the lender said in an exchange filing. The Chennai-based Public sector lender did not disclose the amount of penalty imposed on it for breach of norms by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). In an exchange filing, IOB said the bank and its branch operating at Hong Kong have taken necessary preventive actions to avoid such recurrence in future and strengthen its internal processes in this regard. The impact of the said action on the Bank is not material, it added. There were significant deficiencies in IOBHK's transaction monitoring mechanism and management oversight of the bank's anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) controls, HKMA said. HKMA had asked IOB to conduct a review on the transaction alerts generated by the monitoring system and submit a remedial plan to address the contraventions. The regulator had also directed the bank to submit a report prepared by an independent external advisor assessing whether the remedial measures are effective, it added.
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong has what it takes to be an Islamic finance hub
With its multicultural environment and financial expertise, Hong Kong is well-placed to become an Islamic finance hub. In embracing this opportunity, Hong Kong can diversify its financial services sector while promoting ethical finance principles globally. Hong Kong should pursue strategic reform to capitalise on this market. Introducing a dedicated Takaful ordinance would provide clarity on capital and governance requirements. Partnerships with leading Islamic finance centres such as Malaysia and Qatar could accelerate product innovation, particularly fintech solutions. Establishing a Hong Kong-Qatar task force on Takaful would build on recent agreements , while an annual Islamic finance summit would raise Hong Kong's profile. Although challenges remain, Hong Kong's regulatory framework has progressed in accommodating Islamic finance. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority's framework allows Islamic banking windows, while tax neutrality for Islamic bonds (Sukuk) since 2013 has encouraged issuance. However, the lack of stand-alone Islamic banking licences and low local awareness limit growth potential. Takaful, or Islamic insurance, operates on principles of cooperation (Ta'awun) and charitable donation (Tabarru), with participants contributing to a shared pool to protect against risks. Unlike conventional insurance, Takaful avoids interest (Riba) and speculative uncertainty (Gharar), redistributing surpluses to participants. This ethical model covers family protection, general insurance and reinsurance solutions that comply with Islamic law. Global Islamic finance assets, projected to reach US$7.5 trillion by 2028, present a significant opportunity for Hong Kong. With its robust financial infrastructure and connectivity to mainland China, Hong Kong is uniquely positioned to become a gateway to sharia-compliant finance in Asia. Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@ or filling in this Google form . Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification Ahmed Ashfaq, Tsim Sha Tsui Legal principles must be applied consistently The Flywin principle – established by the Court of Final Appeal in Flywin Co Ltd vs Strong & Associates Ltd (2002) – dictates that parties cannot introduce new legal arguments at the appellate level if they failed to raise them in lower courts. This rule upholds procedural fairness and consistency in the legal process. In 2022, the Hong Kong government invoked new arguments in its bid to bar British barrister Tim Owen from representing Jimmy Lai. These arguments had not been raised in lower courts. The Court of Final Appeal, applying Flywin , rejected the government's application. Then came the 2023 same-sex partnership case brought by Jimmy Sham. In a split 3–2 decision, the Court of Final Appeal ruled in Sham's favour. Notably, Mr Justice Patrick Keane said Sham's counsel 'did not press the argument made before the Court of Appeal that [Article 14 of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights] was violated by reason of the absence of a legislated regime for same-sex partnerships as an alternative to marriage... Rather, the argument presented for the appellant in this Court was that [Article 14] was violated by reason of the absence of any legal recognition of same-sex unions … This was an adroit piece of advocacy on the appellant's behalf.' In effect, the overseas judge was lauding Sham's counsel for abandoning the previous argument for an equivalent to marriage in favour of a new claim for institutional recognition. In other words, a legal pivot occurred at the highest level – precisely the sort of manoeuvre the Flywin principle forbids. What changed? How was a government barred from raising fresh arguments in 2022, yet an appellant lauded for doing the same in 2023? Perhaps the overseas judge was unaware of Flywin's local pedigree. Perhaps the government, despite its earlier bitter experience, failed to object. Or perhaps – more troublingly – legal principles are being applied selectively. Flywin isn't just about technicalities; it's about fairness, foresight and holding all parties to the same standards. Lai Shing-kin, Quarry Bay Comparison with Singapore's English standards is unfair I refer to the letter , 'HK must keep up English standards among the young' (July 11), which cited the EF English Proficiency Index as evidence of our declining English standards. The index has long been criticised for not being representative as it draws on the results of self-selected individuals. The average test scores are not representative of the population's English fluency for the same reason. The comparison with Singapore is also inappropriate, as English is the first language of many Singaporeans but only a second language, if not a foreign language, to Hongkongers. By the same token, it would be unfair to compare Singaporeans' Chinese proficiency with that of Hongkongers, who use the language on a daily basis. Generally, Hongkongers still possess a satisfactory command of English. We would expect our lawyers, accountants and bankers to speak and write English professionally, and they still seem to. We would expect those who work in department stores, amusement parks and tourist attractions to speak some English, and they also seem to, albeit not perfectly. It would be unreasonable to expect a random person you run into to be able to effortlessly communicate in fluent English. After all, we are in Hong Kong, where the mainstream language is Cantonese. I fully agree that English is an important language for the city. It's just that the situation is not as bad as it seems. Anson Chan, Guangzhou Advertisement
Bloomberg
15-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Hong Kong Defends FX Peg for a Fifth Time as Pressure Extends
By and Julia Zhong Save Hong Kong authorities intervened for the fifth time in about three weeks to prevent the city's currency from weakening beyond its official trading band. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Chinese financial hub's de-facto central bank, purchased HK$14.8 billion ($1.9 billion) of the local dollar, according to its Bloomberg page on Wednesday, a small increase on its effort late last week. Its four previous rounds of purchases cost it about HK$72 billion, according to Bloomberg's calculations of official data.
