On 3 December, the European Commission added Russia to the EU’s list of high-risk countries – commonly referred to as the ‘blacklist’ – deemed to have strategic deficiencies in their frameworks for countering financial crime. The decision will formally enter into force within two months of publication unless overturned by the European Parliament or the European Council. Russia was subjected to restrictions even though it is not listed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)

To combat criminal syndicates recruiting bank account holders to rent or sell their accounts for money laundering purposes, the Financial Intelligence and Investigation Bureau (FIIB) partnered with Alipay to disseminate anti-money laundering (AML) messages to Chinese Mainland users through the Alipay Mobile Application (App). Starting from September 29, the Alipay App displays a pop-up message to Chinese Mainland users upon their arrival in Hong Kong, outlining the severe leg

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has reprimanded and fined EFG Bank AG (EFG) $10.85 million for failures relating to product due diligence, record-keeping and late reporting between January 2015 and December 2020 (Relevant Period) (Notes 1 and 2). The SFC’s investigation stemmed from a self-report from EFG and a referral of findings from the HKMA (Note 3). Regarding product due diligence, EFG failed to take into account special features of various products when con

The Government today (December 9) launched a public consultation on the implementation of the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) and amendments in relation to the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) promulgated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Hong Kong.      Hong Kong has long been supportive of international efforts to enhance tax transparency and combat cross-border tax evasion. Since 2018, Hong Kong has been exchanging financial acc

The Shatin Magistrates’ Court has convicted Ms Wong Yuk Lan, Administration Controller of China All Access (Holdings) Limited (China All Access), for false trading in the company’s shares, following a prosecution brought by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) (Notes 1 to 3). Wong was remanded to custody for sentencing on 17 December 2025, pending background report.  The Court was told that Wong was the “de facto wife” of Mr Chan Yuen Ming, Chairman of China All Access

The Eastern Magistrates’ Courts today convicted Mr Choi Chun Wai, former Vice President of Computershare Hong Kong Investor Services Limited (Computershare) (Note 1), of insider dealing in the shares of ENM Holdings Limited (ENM) following a criminal prosecution by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) (Note 2). Choi pleaded guilty to the offence of insider dealing. The Court remanded him in custody and adjourned the case to 18 December 2025 for sentencing. On 2 June 20

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has suspended Ms Loretta Lee Si Kar, a responsible officer (RO), manager-in-charge (MIC) and director of Tung Tai Securities Company Limited (Tung Tai), for three months and two weeks from 1 December 2025 to 14 March 2026 (Note 1).    The disciplinary action follows the SFC’s sanctions against Tung Tai for its failures relating to unauthorised sales of client securities and transfers of client funds between 6 September 2019 and 18 F

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has directed The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (Stock Exchange) to suspend dealings in the shares of Dashan Education Holdings Limited (Dashan) under the Securities and Futures (Stock Market Listing) Rules (SMLR), effective from 9:00 am on 3 December 2025 (Notes 1 and 2). The SFC took this action because it considers that suspending dealings in Dashan’s shares at this stage is desirable to maintain a fair and orderly market an