Business
HKMA Targets Financial Crime with Proposed Bill for Interbank Personal Account Info Sharing: Aims to Enhance Quality of Suspicious Transaction Reports
The HKMA is pursuing the disclosure of private account details from banks in the fight against fiscal misconduct. The HKMA is set to propose legislation that would permit banks to exchange data regarding individual accounts that appear suspicious.
In June 2023, Hong Kong launched the Financial Intelligence Evaluation Sharing Tool (FINEST), a system that allows banks to share details about potentially dubious corporate accounts. However, due to privacy regulations, they are prohibited from sharing information about individual accounts.
The proposed law amendment would simplify the process for banks to report questionable transactions and enhance their capacity to halt illegal finances.
"By integrating data from various banks, the general quality of dubious transaction reports will improve," Chan stated. "Data from one bank might shed light on activities that another bank has labelled as suspicious."
Chan stated that a collaborative effort of sharing information among multiple banks led to the identification of a religious institution that fell victim to a fraud scheme worth US$128.8 million (HK$1 billion). After reporting the matter to law enforcement, the banks aided in recovering US$102.6 million (HK$800 million) for the institution.
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