Risk briefing: Why are companies leaving Hong Kong?
Concerns around regulation, freedom of expression, and bad actors are driving companies from Hong Kong. However, cutting off the region may mean pulling back from China altogether, leaving businesses with tricky decisions to make... Read More
Hong Kong is trying to shake its reputation as a haven for dirty money, but has it done enough?
Jane Moir, South China Morning Post, 6 Jun, 2019
Bruce Aitken, aka Mr Clean, had it easy when he trotted around the globe laundering millions of dollars in the late 1970s and 80s. All he needed was a plane ticket and his golf bag… Read More
New Hong Kong Chartered Secretaries AML Guidelines to Aid Banks with KYC
Financial institutions should be able to better fulfil their obligations following the release of new anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing guidelines released by the Hong Kong Institute of Chartered Secretaries… Read More
Hong Kong Banks Take Low-Tech Approach to Customer Due Diligence
Trond Vagen, Hong Kong Lawyer, Jun 2015
Fraudsters have been able to use stolen ID cards to set up accounts and launder money through Hong Kong banks, the territory’s banking regulator said. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (“HKMA”) made it clear…Read More
Alibaba’s battle with regulators threatens to damage brand China
Toh Han Shih, South China Morning Post, 31 Jan 2015
“Open sesame” was the codeword used in the Ali Baba children’s folktale to reveal the treasure cave. But “open season” seems to be the more apt phrase as regulators and executives of the Chinese e-commerce giant… Read More
HKMA to tighten screws on money laundering at Hong Kong banks
Toh Han Shih, South China Morning Post, 18 Jan, 2015
Hong Kong authorities are expected to crack down harder on money laundering this year, as it continues to be a serious problem among smaller banks in the city and on the mainland… Read More
Zenith says ‘stalling’ by Founder behind dispute over 3b yuan
Toh Han Shih, South China Morning Post, 8 Jan 2015
More details have emerged of the feud between Founder Securities and its second-largest shareholder that took a dramatic turn this week with the intervention of graft investigators… Read More
Scale and reach of anti-graft probes set to increase
Toh Han Shih, South China Morning Post, 7 Jan, 2015
A flurry of anti-graft probes on the mainland is set to increase in scale and reach. Tougher enforcement of rules will be the main weapon used by increasingly sophisticated corruption investigators… Read More
US$1.25 trillion moved out of mainland China illegally in 10 years, says report
Benjamin Robertson, South China Morning Post, 16 Dec, 2014
China lost US$1.25 trillion between 2003 and 2012 to illicit outflows including tax evasion, crime and corruption, the largest loss of money among 151 developing nations surveyed… Read More
Alibaba Pictures misstated tax due to weak controls, says PwC
Toh Han Shih, South China Morning Post, 11 Dec, 2014
Analysts are questioning Alibaba Group’s aggressive acquisition of companies after its Hong Kong-listed subsidiary Alibaba Pictures Group was found to have mis-stated its tax reports and convertible bonds… Read More
Microsoft case among nine antitrust probes in China
Benjamin Robertson & Toh Han Shih, South China Morning Post, 27 Aug, 2014
Alleged market abuse by Microsoft Corp’s internet browser and media player divisions is one of nine ongoing antitrust investigations into multinational and Chinese firms, confirmed mainland authorities yesterday… Read More
Hong Kong loses out to the mainland in fraud survey
Toh Han Shih, South China Morning Post, 13 Jun, 2014
Hong Kong generally fared worse than the mainland in the latest global fraud survey of EY, although other international surveys rank the city well ahead in battling corruption… Read More
No pressure to avoid going after banks for money laundering: police
Samuel Chan & Toh Han Shih, South China Morning Post, 14 Apr, 2014
The police are not under pressure to avoid going after major banks and masterminds when investigating suspected money laundering, the head of the narcotics bureau’s financial investigations division says… Read More
UBS helped set up offshore firm for wife, daughter of corrupt railways official
Toh Han Shih, South China Morning Post, 17 Feb, 2014
Swiss bank UBS is at the centre of embarrassing revelations that it helped to set up a secretive offshore firm for the wife and daughter of a former senior Chinese official who has since been convicted of corruption… Read More
JPMorgan effect casts chill over firms’ hiring practices in China
Toh Han Shih, South China Morning Post, 7 Feb 2014
Western financial institutions and Chinese firms have become more cautious about employing potentially influential mainlanders in the wake of publicity over JP Morgan’s repeated hiring of well-connected Chinese… Read More
Exposé proves bad for business in British Virgin Islands
Toh Han Shih, South China Morning Post, 18 Jan, 2014
Revelations about secretive companies set up in the British Virgin Islands have proved bad for business in the Caribbean tax haven. Incorporations of offshore companies in the BVI fell sharply last year, following leaks… Read More
Debate on use of intelligence can assuage fears of abuse (Opinion)
Julian Russell, South China Morning Post, 19 Jun, 2013
Most countries believe it is axiomatic that anything which crosses their borders may be examined without any specific suspicion or cause; a statute normally gives this authority. This applies to people, goods, money – and data… Read More