HONG KONG Law and Practice Contributed by: Gareth Hughes, Emily Lam, Philip Rohlik and Tiffany Wu, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
1. Legal Framework 1.1 International Conventions
• the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance (Cap 554) prohibits corrupt con - duct at elections and regulates political con - tributions; 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 property or thing of value in exchange for providing or endeavouring to provide certain improper advantages. In terms of regulatory consequences, failure by financial institutions licensed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) or the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) to comply with appli - cable anti-corruption 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 accept - ing of any advantage or gift that would, or might reasonably be seen to, compromise their integ - rity 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 POBO, a civil servant could still be liable to disciplinary 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 Serious 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 indictable offence to report that knowledge or suspicion as soon as reason - ably practicable. Financial institutions regulated by the HKMA and the SFC are also subject to self-reporting requirements under the Supervi -
As a special administrative region of China, Chi - na’s ratifications of the United Nations Conven - tion 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 responsible for preventing corruption, the Inde - pendent Commission against Corruption (ICAC), is a member of various international anti-corrup - tion bodies, including the International Associa - tion of Anti-Corruption Authorities, the APEC Anti-Corruption and Transparency Experts Working Group, the ADB/OECD Anti-Corrup - tion Initiative for Asia-Pacific and the Economic The Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (Cap 201) (POBO) is the primary anti-corruption legisla - tion in Hong Kong. It regulates corrupt con - duct in both the public and private sectors. The main offences are set out in Part II of POBO. In addition to prohibiting the offering/giving or soliciting/receiving of bribes, POBO contains an unexplained wealth offence, prohibiting the chief executive or a “prescribed officer” (certain civil servants) from maintaining a standard of liv - ing 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
188 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook