Crowdfunding in Hong Kong will need approval from new body under proposals to be unveiled next week
- Law enforcement agencies to be given powers to block crowdfunding appeals ruled ‘illegal’
- Move comes after crowdfunding used to assist people arrested in 2019 anti-government unrest
All crowdfunding activities in Hong Kong will have to be preapproved by a new body under proposals to be announced by the government’s financial services bureau next week.
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui Ching-yu on Saturday said law enforcement agencies would also be given the power to block “illegal” crowdfunding attempts and prosecute offenders.
The government earlier vowed to regulate crowdfunding – typically done on digital platforms – after it was used by some NGOs and groups to help pay the legal fees of protesters arrested during the 2019 anti-government unrest.
Retired Catholic leader Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, 90, and five other activists in Hong Kong were last month fined up to HK$4,000 (US$512) each after they were convicted of failure to register the now-closed 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which offered more than HK$243 million it crowdfunded to people who faced criminal prosecution or financial strain in the wake of the protests.
Hui, writing in his official blog on Saturday, said a revamp of the rules – which only regulate in-person fundraising activities – was needed because crowdfunding had been used by some lawbreakers to con people in the past. Citing the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, he also said some groups had used crowdfunding to back activities which jeopardised public safety or even national security.