The Government announced today (March 28) that the Chief Executive (CE) has reappointed Ms Teresa Ko Yuk-yin as the convenor-cum-member of the Pensions Appeal Panel (PAP) and the Appeal Panel on Government’s Voluntary Contributions under the Civil Service Provident Fund Scheme (APGVC) for a term of three years with effect from April 8, 2025.

     The PAP is a statutory body established under the Pension Benefits Ordinance (Cap. 99) responsible for advising the CE on petitions made by civil servants against decisions to cancel, suspend, reduce or refuse to grant pension benefits. The APGVC is an administrative panel set up to tender advice to the CE on representations made by civil servants against decisions to forfeit or recover their accrued benefits attributable to government voluntary contributions under the Civil Service Provident Fund Scheme.

    The other two members of the two appeal panels are Professor Wong Sze-chun and Ms Eva Kwong Pui-han.

     To prepare for the onboarding of Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) schemes to the eMPF Platform, the Government published in the Gazette today (March 28) the following legal notices:
 
(i) the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Specification of Dates for Purposes of Section 19M(2)(a)) (Amendment) (No. 2) Notice 2025 (Mandatory Use (Amendment) (No. 2) Notice 2025); and
 
(ii) the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Appointment of Dates for Purposes of Section 19U(4)) (Amendment) (No. 2) Notice 2025, the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Appointment of Dates for Purposes of Section 19Y(3)) (Amendment) (No. 2) Notice 2025, and the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Appointment of Dates for Purposes of Section 19Z(4)) (Amendment) (No. 2) Notice 2025 (collectively Fee Control (Amendment) (No. 2) Notices 2025).
 
     The Mandatory Use (Amendment) (No. 2) Notice 2025 specifies June 5, 2025, as "material day" for BOC-Prudential Easy-Choice Mandatory Provident Fund Scheme and My Choice Mandatory Provident Fund Scheme administered by BOCI-Prudential Trustee Limited (BOCI-Prudential), such that BOCI-Prudential is mandated to use the eMPF Platform to perform scheme administration functions in relation to these MPF schemes. On cost savings and fee-setting of MPF schemes to be charged by MPF trustees on scheme members, the Fee Control (Amendment) (No. 2) Notices 2025 appoint September 5, 2025, as "material day" for the constituent funds of BOC-Prudential Easy-Choice Mandatory Provident Fund Scheme and My Choice Mandatory Provident Fund Scheme, such that BOCI-Prudential is mandated to make corresponding reduction in its fees charged on scheme members in relation to the constituent funds of these MPF schemes. 
 
     Relevant legal notices for the remaining MPF schemes will be published in the Gazette when the respective onboarding dates are ascertained having regard to the onboarding preparation status of the MPF trustees concerned.
 
     If scheme members/employers have any question regarding the detailed operation of the eMPF Platform, they may visit the Platform's official website (empf.org.hk), or call the Platform's customer service hotline (183 2622). Scheme members/employers may also visit the three eMPF service centres located on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon and the New Territories.
 
     The aforementioned legal notices will be tabled at the Legislative Council for negative vetting on April 2, 2025.

     The Government announced today (March 28) that the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury has appointed Dr Jack Kong Jianping, Mr Alan Ng Man-sang, Professor Raymond Wong Man-kong and Ms Alice Yip Ka-ming as panel members of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Review Tribunal. Ms Florence Chan Yuen-shan was reappointed as a panel member. The tenure for all will last for a term of three years, effective from April 1, 2025.
 
     A spokesman for the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau said, "The five panel members have rich experience in their respective professional fields and in public service. We are confident that they will help lead the Tribunal to operate effectively." 
 
     The spokesman also expressed sincere gratitude to two outgoing members, Professor Tam Kar-yan and Ms Joan Ho Yuk-wai, for their valuable contributions to the Tribunal during their tenure.
 
     The Tribunal is established under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (Cap. 615) to review specified decisions made under the Ordinance by a relevant authority (including the Monetary Authority, the Securities and Futures Commission, the Insurance Authority, the Registrar of Companies, and the Commissioner of Customs and Excise).

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     Here is an item of interest to swimmers.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (March 28) that due to big waves, the red flag has been hoisted at Clear Water Bay Second Beach in Sai Kung District. Beachgoers are advised not to swim at the beach.

     The Government today (March 28) gazetted additional forms of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) under the Fixed Penalty (Public Cleanliness and Obstruction) Ordinance (Cap. 570) (the Ordinance) to introduce mobile printing of FPNs to enhance enforcement efficiency and accuracy through the use of technology.

     Currently, frontline enforcement officers of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) need to manually fill in information of the contravention on printed FPNs, which are then checked and inputted into the backend data system by backend officers.

     The new Mobile Printing Fixed Penalty Notice System (Mobile Printing System) enables enforcement officers to scan offenders' Hong Kong identity cards through an application on department-issued mobile phones to instantly import identity information, along with automatic inputting of the date, time, location and details of enforcement officers. Officers can then print the notice on the spot using portable printers. The relevant data will be automatically uploaded to the backend system, reducing manual errors and improving enforcement efficiency. The mobile application only scans and imports information, but will not keep images of the identity cards. Data collected for enforcement remains unchanged.

     To accommodate the printable size of portable printers, the forms of FPNs need to be streamlined. The Secretary for Environment and Ecology, empowered under section 17A of the Ordinance, has specified the forms of the relevant FPNs. 

     Starting from March 31, the FEHD will launch the trial of the Mobile Printing System in Southern, Wong Tai Sin and Kwai Tsing Districts.