Chambers unite over tighter Hong Kong bank rules

The city’s leading chamber of commerce is joining hands with its international counterparts in Hong Kong to campaign against recently tightened bank requirements, which are causing concern among investors as local lenders seem to be acting on their own without any directives from regulators.

While the number of cases of clients being turned away remain unknown, the Post has learned that banks have started to impose stricter requirements for opening new local accounts, which are not required by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

Shirley Yuen, CEO of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, said she had heard of the new rules, including requiring a foreign investor to provide evidence of an annual turnover of HK$15 million in order to open a company account for a business start-up.

Foreign passports were no longer being accepted as proof of identification and new accounts could only be opened by Hong Kong ID card holders. Staff members from Hang Seng Bank and Bank of China (Hong Kong) confirmed to the Post that without a Hong Kong ID, foreigners could only open an account here if they had documents proving their ties with the city, such as marriage certificates if their spouses were local residents.

“These are onerous requirements and are not at all useful to the government’s stated intent to cultivate an ecosystem that is conducive to the establishment of start-ups,” Yuen told the Post.

She warned that if the changes were unique to the city, it would hurt Hong Kong’s status as a key regional trading hub.