MR CHAN CHUN-YING (in Cantonese):
I believe banks are glad to hear that “Based on the feedback HKMA received recently, customer experience in the account opening process has improved”. The latest statistics indicate that for
the successful cases of account opening, around 90 % have their scrutiny completed within one month and two thirds within 15 days.
However, may I ask the Secretary whether the authorities plan to set a measurable target to assess if difficulties in opening bank accounts have been addressed generally and how the authorities will share the information on account opening to outsiders so as to change the latter’s impression that it is difficult to open bank accounts in Hong Kong?
SECRETARY FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES AND THE TREASURY (in Cantonese):
At present, I think it may not be particularly helpful to set a specific figure as the mandatory target. For the past year or a longer period, HKMA has established a good cooperative relationship with banks. We hope to enhance the communication mechanism continuously to let banks know how to conduct CDD assessment in the most efficient manner. We hope to collect more information to support our communication with the public and banks, so that all parties can see the progress. As for the setting of mandatory targets, I think it may not be necessary for the time being. Yet we consider the situation requires further improvement and we hope to work more on enhancement.