Business
WeChat Pay Hong Kong Slapped with HK$875,000 Fine by HKMA for Neglecting Due Diligence Measures Amid Anti-Money Laundering Concerns
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has imposed a fine of HK$875,000 on Tencent's WeChat Pay Hong Kong for not carrying out necessary checks. The HKMA scrutinized a five-year period until October 2021, during which WeChat Pay was found lacking in implementing appropriate procedures and regulations.
On Friday, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced that it has placed a penalty of HK$875,000 (US$112,205) on the local division of Tencent Holdings' mobile payment service, WeChat Pay Hong Kong. This was due to their failure in properly executing procedures for customer due diligence.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) imposed disciplinary measures on WeChat Pay after conducting a probe that spanned over five years, from August 2016 to October 2021. Throughout this timeframe, the service provider demonstrated a failure to establish sufficient and suitable checks related to customer due diligence.
The shortcomings were primarily related to regulations against money laundering and the funding of terrorism via stored value services, as per an announcement by the HKMA.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) stated that WeChat Pay failed to evaluate the potential dangers after being alerted by law enforcement to investigate mobile numbers potentially connected to fraudulent activities and verify if these numbers were associated with its users.
The firm received data on 1,827 instances related to 500 accounts. Out of these, 98 were linked to 84 clients who were later reported to the Joint Financial Intelligence Unit (JFIU) of the Hong Kong government.
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