Hong Kong ramps up regulation of Mainland investors' investment accounts, with account opening checks to be conducted retroactively until January 2023.

Regarding the matter of "Some banks in Hong Kong require a statement to open an investment account," the Hong Kong Monetary Authority responded to a reporter from the Financial Alliance today, stating that the relevant regulatory requirements were issued to all recognized institutions on May 22. Materials provided by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority show that registered institutions are required to take three additional measures when opening and managing investment accounts for mainland investors, including: 1. Close investment accounts opened using suspicious or forged documents, identify customer investment accounts that were opened using suspicious or forged documents from January 2023 onwards or any other period specified by the Monetary Authority, with relevant documents including identity documents; 2. Close zero-balance stagnant investment accounts, specifically referring to investment accounts held by mainland investors that have no asset balance as of May 22, 2026 (reference date), and no customer-initiated activities in the 12 months prior to the reference date; 3. Obtain a written declaration from mainland investors confirming that all funds used to support investment activities and related settlements come from legitimate sources outside mainland China when opening a new investment account. The related documents indicate that the additional regulatory measures only apply to investment accounts within comprehensive bank accounts, while non-investment functions (such as regular savings, transactions, payments, loans, and credit cards) are not within the scope of the measures. Furthermore, the additional measures apply only to individual customers and not to corporate or institutional clients. This article is reprinted from "Financial Alliance," author: Zou Juntao; GMTEight Editor: Liu Jiayin.