HONG KONG Law and Practice Contributed by: Gareth Hughes, Emily Lam, Philip Rohlik and Tiffany Wu, Debevoise & Plimpton
7.4 Discretion for Mitigation and Aggravation Mitigating factors, such as self-reporting and volun - tary co-operation with the authorities, if significant, could lead to a decision by the ICAC or the Secretary for Justice not to prosecute. If the decision is made to prosecute, such conduct is likely to result in the court imposing a reduced sentence. On the other hand, aggravating factors such as repeated misconduct could lead to more severe penalties upon conviction. See also 5.2 Guidelines Applicable to the Assess- ment of Penalties . Further, as stated in 4.5 Safe Harbour or Amnesty Programme , a witness or informer may be granted immunity from prosecution under certain circum - stances. 7.5 Recent Landmark Investigations or Decisions In March 2025, the ICAC mounted operation “Arrow Shower” that targeted corrupt conduct relating to mortgage applications in the banking sector. A total of 22 individuals working in various banks were arrest - ed as a result of this operation, including 18 frontline bank employees who had defrauded banks of refer - ral fees by allegedly accepting bribes for assisting a mortgage loan intermediary in more than 200 property mortgage loan applications. The intermediatory would receive referral fees from banks after having success - fully referred clients to the banks for mortgage loan applications. It was alleged that bank employees had included referral application forms in documents prepared for signing by mortgage loan applicants who had no knowledge of the mortgage referrals. The investigation revealed that the intermediatory had offered bribes in the sum of HKD2 million to bank employees for pro - cessing certain clients’ mortgage loan applications using falsified income documents, and that some mortgage applicants’ signatures had been forged. This is a significant operation as the ICAC executed search warrants at over 30 premises in Hong Kong. The ICAC investigation is still ongoing. Separately, the ICAC continued with the prosecution of individuals involved in the Hong Kong International Airport Third Runway Project for bribery offences. Per -
property in their possession except in accordance with the conditions imposed by the court; and • the power to apply to the court for a written notice requiring any person who is being investigated for any offence under the POBO reasonably suspected to have been committed by them to surrender any travel documents in their possession. Following investigation, pursuant to Section 31 (1) of the POBO, the consent of the Secretary for Justice is required for prosecuting bribery offences under the POBO. The ICAC also works with other law enforcement agencies in Hong Kong to combat corruption in spe - cific sectors; see the examples below. • In 2019, the ICAC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the SFC to strengthen their co-operation in combating illegal activities, includ - ing corruption, which damage the integrity of Hong Kong’s securities and futures markets. Such co-operation enables the ICAC to benefit from the investigative fruits of the other law enforcement agencies. This is particularly significant in the case of the SFC, as a person interviewed by the SFC for a suspected breach or contravention of the Secu - rities and Futures Ordinance (Cap 571) does not have the right to remain silent. Although the use of the compelled information as evidence in criminal proceedings against the interviewee is prohibited, such evidence may be used against others, and use of information derived from the compelled information against the interviewee and other par - ties is also permitted. • In December 2024, the ICAC entered into a Memo - randum of Understanding with the Competition Commission to enhance collaboration in combat - ing corruption and anti-competitive conduct. 7.3 Jurisdictional Reach of Enforcement Bodies The jurisdictional reach of the ICAC is defined by the scope of the bribery offences under the POBO. For details, see 3.2 Geographical Reach of Applicable Legislation .
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