Security

Hong Kong’s Financial Sector Unites to Fight Financial Fraud with Anti-Deception Alliance

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), in collaboration with the Hong Kong Association of Banks (HKAB) and various banking institutions, has endorsed the establishment of the Anti-Deception Alliance (ADA) by the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) to fight against financial fraud.

Launched on 24 November, this initiative is set to enhance the anti-money laundering infrastructure’s ability to identify, disrupt, and deter scams.

The ADA represents a continuation of the longstanding partnership between the HKMA, HKPF, and the banking industry, aimed at safeguarding the financial system and the community from fraud and financial crimes.

This alliance will improve the functionality of the existing 24/7 stop payment mechanism managed by the HKPF’s Anti-Deception Coordination Centre (ADCC).

It will do so by integrating ADCC officers with bank staff from participating banks to swiftly identify and intercept crime proceeds and proactively spot potential scam victims.

The ten participating retail banks in the ADA are; The Bank of East Asia; Bank of China (Hong Kong); Bank of Communications (Hong Kong); DBS Bank (Hong Kong); Hang Seng Bank; HSBC; Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia); Nanyang Commercial Bank; OCBC Bank (Hong Kong); and Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong).

The ADA’s collaborative work environment, complemented by the banks’ analytics capabilities, which are a part of HKMA’s Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Regulatory Technology (Regtech) initiative, is expected to enhance intelligence sharing, accelerate decision-making, and strengthen cooperation among all parties involved.

Additionally, the ADA initiative is in line with ongoing efforts by banks to collaborate with key stakeholders in preventing fraud and financial crime.

The upcoming launch of the Faster Payment System Suspicious Proxy ID Alert, based on the Scameter database, along with other anti-deception measures introduced by the HKMA, HKPF, and 28 retail banks earlier in April, is anticipated to further strengthen the fight against these crimes and reduce financial losses to the public.

Eddie Yue

Eddie Yue, Chief Executive of the HKMA, said,

“We firmly believe that rapid and effective communication and intelligence sharing will assist the banking industry to detect and prevent fraud risk and related mule account networks, as well as helping intercept fraudulent payments more effectively.

All these efforts help protect and enhance public confidence in using digital financial services, and support the healthy development of Hong Kong as an international financial centre.”