HKMA: Account opening verification for mainland investors’ investment accounts will be retroactively reviewed back to January 2023

According to a report by Cailian News, in response to the matter of “certain banks in Hong Kong requiring declarations for opening investment accounts,” the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) stated today that the relevant regulatory requirements were issued to all authorized institutions on May 22. Materials provided by the HKMA indicate that registered institutions must implement three additional measures when opening and managing investment accounts for Mainland Chinese investors, including: 1. Closing investment accounts opened using suspicious or forged documents, and identifying investment accounts held by customers—opened since January 2023 or during any other period specified by the HKMA—using such suspicious or forged documents, including identity documents; 2. Closing dormant investment accounts with zero balances—specifically, investment accounts held by Mainland Chinese investors that have no asset balance as of May 22, 2026 (the reference date), and have had no customer-initiated activity within the 12 months preceding the reference date; 3. Obtaining a written declaration from each Mainland Chinese investor upon opening a new investment account, confirming that all funds used to support investment activities and related settlements originate lawfully from outside Mainland China. The relevant documents clarify that these newly introduced additional regulatory measures apply solely to investment accounts—including investment sub-accounts within integrated banking accounts—and do not extend to non-investment functions (e.g., ordinary savings, current/time deposits, payments, loans, and credit cards). Furthermore, these additional measures apply only to individual customers and do not cover corporate or institutional clients.