Go to Hong Kong to open an account attention! These five types of situations are easy to be rejected

In the midst of the wave of financial globalization, Hong Kong's unique position as an international financial center has beenA popular choice for mainlanders to open overseas accountsWhether you are saving for your child's study abroad fund, investing in Hong Kong and U.S. stocks, or making a U.S. dollar asset allocation, owning a Hong Kong account will be much more convenient.

However, with the continuous upgrading of the global anti-money laundering regulatory system and the intelligent transformation of banks' risk segregation mechanisms, the personal account opening sector in Hong Kong is experiencing an unprecedented compliance shuffle.

This article provides an in-depth analysis of the five types of account opening groups most likely to touch the reef, reveals the regulatory logic behind their risk characteristics, and provides investors with coping strategies.

#01

Authentication risk category

Deficiencies in the validity of statutory documents

If the validity period of the identity document (ID card/passport/Hong Kong and Macao Travel Permit) is less than the statutory requirement (e.g. the remaining validity period of ID card is less than 3 months), or the type of endorsement is not in line with the policy of opening an account (e.g. the type of endorsement for going to Hong Kong is not in the compliant category of business/visiting relatives), the bank will refuse to open an account due to the fact that it cannot confirm the validity of the account holder's long term identity.

👉 Identity consistency in doubt

Multi-document information logical contradictions (e.g., pass and ID card name pinyin format does not match), biometric comparison abnormalities (e.g., face recognition similarity <85% threshold), the public security system registration information does not match the declared documents (not updated the household registration change records) and other situations, triggering the bank anti-fraud system warning mechanism.
response strategy

Establishment of the awareness of the full life cycle management of documents, passports, laissez-passer and other key documents should be set up six months in advance of the update of the early warning period; involving changes in name, address and other sensitive information, need to be synchronized with the completion of the banking system for the record.

#02

Financial linkage risk category

Vague statement of the source of funding

In the account opening interview, the bank asked the source of funds, the account holder ambiguous, such as claiming that "investment income" but can not provide brokerage statements, or "salary income" lack of employment contracts and tax certificates, the bank is difficult to determine the legitimacy of the funds and stability, to Risk avoidance refused to open an account.

Abnormalities in the flow of funds

Recent accounts with large amounts of funds in and out of the fast (such as the average daily flow of more than 1 million Hong Kong dollars and retained <24 hours), and funds from high-risk areas or suspicious accounts, such as frequent transactions with high-risk areas (involving the FATF Gray List countries / regions), or the existence of unusual time characteristics of the transaction (non-working day large amounts of funds concentrated in and out), the bank will suspect that the account is involved in illegal activities and refused to open an account.
response strategy

Build a traceable file of financial links, including payroll flows, investment agreements, tax vouchers, etc.; cross-border transactions are required to complete FATF high-risk country list screening in advance.

#03

Industry Compliance Risk Category

Occupationally sensitive attributes

If the account holder is engaged in finance, investment consulting, virtual currency, gaming-related, film and entertainment (some of which involve the risk of money laundering) and other sensitive industries, the bank, taking into account the potential compliance risk of the industry, regulatory requirements and past cases of money laundering and other violations in the industry, will be strictly examined on the account opening application, and most of the time, refused to open an account.

👉 Corporate affiliation risk

The account holder's enterprise has a significant negative record, involving legal disputes, abnormal operation, included in the list of bad faith, etc., even if the individual has no bad record, the bank may still refuse to open an account based on the risk of "business - personal funds linkage".
response strategy

Practitioners in sensitive industries should prepare certificates of compliance issued by law firms in advance; corporate affiliation risks need to be credit segregated through third-party auditors.

#04

Credit history risk category

👉 Bad record of Hong Kong's financial system

If you have previous records of account irregularities with other financial institutions in Hong Kong, such as accounts frozen, investigated for suspected money laundering, securities irregularities, cross-border tax compliance issues, etc., and the bank inquires about the relevant records at the time of account opening, the bank will list them as high-risk customers and refuse to open an account.
response strategy

Regular financial credit checkups are conducted to repair potential flaws in a timely manner; when cross-border financial business is involved, credit background checks by professional organizations need to be commissioned in advance.

#05

Account opening bank for risk category

👉 Short-term HF applications

Within a short period of time, such as three months to six months, frequent applications for account opening with different Hong Kong banks, the system automatically marked as "account farm" suspicion, the bank will consider the account opening motives are not pure, suspected of illegal purposes, such as the use of multiple accounts for money laundering, capital flight, etc., refused to open an account.

👉 Duplicate applications not rectified

If the reasons for the previous account refusal are not eliminated (e.g., expired documents are still used), and if the reasons are not identified and resolved, and if the application is made again within a short period of time, the system will automatically follow the results of the original risk assessment and refuse to open an account again.
response strategy

Reasonable planning of account opening time window to avoid short-term high-frequency applications; in case of refusal of accounts need to be spaced more than 6 months and complete the risk rectification certification before applying.

Hong Kong bank account tightening reflects the new trend of global compliance, investors need to pay attention to compliance, prepare clear documents in advance, true declaration of the use of funds to avoid high-risk labels.

If you are interested in opening a bank account in Hong Kong, please feel free to enquire!