The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has obtained a court order, by consent between the SFC and Mr Ng Kwok Fai, from the Court of First Instance to freeze more than $101 million in cash in the personal bank account of Ng, a suspected shadow director of Teamway International Group Holdings Limited (Teamway), in legal proceedings under section 214 of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) over alleged corporate misconduct (Note 1). This came after Ng and others agree

The NCA have identified that a billion-dollar money laundering network active in the UK purchased a bank in Kyrgyzstan to facilitate sanctions evasion and payments in support of Russian military efforts. Through Operation Destabilise, the NCA and its partners are targeting money launderers who work for this network and are known to operate in at least 28 UK cities and towns. For a fee, the launderers collect ‘dirty’ cash generated from the drugs trade, firearms supply, and or

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