HONG KONG Law and Practice Contributed by: Gareth Hughes, Emily Lam, Philip Rohlik and Tiffany Wu, Debevoise & Plimpton
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP Floor 21 AIA Central No 1 Connaught Road Central Hong Kong Tel: +852 2160 9800 Fax: +852 2810 9828 Email: Debevoise-media@debevoise.com Web: www.debevoise.com
1. Legal Framework 1.1 International Conventions
• the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordi - nance (Cap 554) prohibits corrupt conduct at elec - tions and regulates political contributions; and • the Banking Ordinance (Cap 155) makes it an offence for a director or employee of a licensed bank or deposit-taking company to ask for or receive, or consent or agree to receive, any prop - erty or thing of value in exchange for providing or endeavouring to provide certain improper advan - tages. In terms of regulatory consequences, failure by finan - cial institutions licensed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) or the Securities and Futures Com - mission (SFC) to comply with applicable anti-corrup - tion requirements may result in breach of the relevant codes of conduct, leading to disciplinary action. For civil servants, the Civil Service Code prohibits the soliciting or accepting of any advantage or gift that would, or might reasonably be seen to, compromise their integrity or judgment or influence the discharge or non-discharge of their duties and responsibili - ties. Even where the solicitation or acceptance of an advantage or gift does not constitute a breach of the POBO, a civil servant could still be liable to discipli - nary action if such solicitation or acceptance has or could have led to a conflict between his or her private interest and official duties. From a reporting perspective, the Organized and Seri - ous Crimes Ordinance (Cap 455) (OSCO) requires any person who knows or suspects that any property represents any person’s proceeds of, or was used or is intended to be used in connection with, an indict - able offence to report that knowledge or suspicion as soon as reasonably practicable. Financial institutions
As a special administrative region of China, China’s ratifications of the United Nations Convention against Corruption and the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime apply to Hong Kong. Separately, Hong Kong has been a member of the Financial Action Task Force since 1991. Hong Kong’s primary law enforcement agency respon - sible for preventing corruption, the Independent Com - mission against Corruption (ICAC), is a member of various international anti-corruption bodies, includ - ing the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities, the APEC Anti-Corruption and Transpar - ency Experts Working Group, the ADB/OECD Anti- Corruption Initiative for Asia-Pacific and the Economic The Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (Cap 201) (POBO) is the primary anti-corruption legislation in Hong Kong. It regulates corrupt conduct in both the public and private sectors. The main offences are set out in Part II of the POBO. In addition to prohibiting the offering/giving or soliciting/receiving of bribes, the POBO contains an unexplained wealth offence, pro - hibiting the chief executive or a “prescribed officer” (certain civil servants) from maintaining a standard of living or being in control of pecuniary resources or property disproportionate to their present or past official emoluments without satisfactory explanation. There are also other anti-corruption provisions that apply to specific sectors. For instance: Crime Agencies Network. 1.2 National Legislation
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