HKMA Acts to Rectify Accounts of Mainland Investors, Three New Rules Backdated to January 2023

According to a report from Caixin Global, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority issued a circular to all authorized institutions on May 22nd, introducing three additional supervisory measures for Mainland Chinese investors opening investment accounts in Hong Kong, and requiring retroactive scrutiny of historical accounts.

The specific content of the three new measures is as follows:

Firstly, close investment accounts opened with suspicious or forged documents, and require institutions to identify and close client investment accounts opened with suspicious or forged identity documents since January 2023 (or any other period specified by the Monetary Authority).

Secondly, close inactive investment accounts with zero balance, that is, accounts held by Mainland Chinese investors that have no asset balance as of the reference date of May 22, 2026, and have had no customer-initiated operations in the 12 months prior to the reference date.

Thirdly, when opening new investment accounts, a written statement from Mainland Chinese investors must be obtained, confirming that all funds used to support investment activities and related settlements are from legal sources outside of Mainland China.

It is worth noting that the aforementioned measures only apply to investment accounts (including investment accounts within integrated bank accounts), and general savings, current deposits, fixed deposits, payments, loans, and credit cards, which are non-investment functions, are not within the scope. The applicable target audience is individual customers, and corporate and institutional clients are not affected.

The introduction of this supervisory action is directly related to recent requirements by some Hong Kong banks for Mainland Chinese investors to sign a statement of the source of funds when opening accounts. The Monetary Authority's response confirms the formal regulatory basis for the related requirements.