Author Archives: hksar gov

     With the special voter registration (VR) arrangement closing next Monday (July 5), the Registration and Electoral Office (REO) today (June 30) made the final call for individuals/bodies eligible under the Improving Electoral System (Consolidated Amendments) Ordinance 2021 to submit VR applications as soon as possible and no later than the special VR deadline of July 5, so that their registration particulars can be included in the 2021 final registers of voters/electors.

     The eligible individuals/bodies comprise:
 

• individuals eligible to register as ex-officio members of the Election Committee (EC);
• individuals and bodies eligible to register as EC subsector (SS) voters (whether they have registered previously or not); and
• for Legislative Council functional constituencies (FCs), individuals and bodies that are no longer eligible to register in their original FC or whose original FC has been deleted while being eligible to register in another FC, as well as those who are newly eligible for registration in FCs.

 
     The specified VR application forms can be obtained from the offices of the REO, the District Offices and the management offices of public housing estates. They can also be downloaded from the VR webpage of the REO (www.reo.gov.hk/en/voter/register.htm). Completed application forms may be submitted no later than the statutory deadline of July 5 via the following channels:
 

• By email to (form@reo.gov.hk) – please do not attach a large number of VR application forms to a single email and send it to the REO’s email account, as the large file size may cause delivery failure;
• Through the REO e-Form Upload Platform (www.reo-form.gov.hk) – if submitting via this channel, please take note of the application number generated by the system so that the application status may be checked afterwards when needed;
• By post to the REO office, 13/F, Kowloonbay International Trade & Exhibition Centre, 1 Trademart Drive, Kowloon Bay – for applications submitted by post, the date of the postmark will be taken as the date of submission. The REO reminds members of the public to send out their application forms early in order not to miss the statutory deadline; or
• By fax to 2891 1180.

     To assist the individuals and bodies concerned to submit VR applications, the REO will make special arrangements for its office on 13/F of Kowloonbay International Trade & Exhibition Centre, 1 Trademart Drive, Kowloon Bay, to remain open until 11.59pm on July 5 to receive application forms from members of the public who wish to submit the forms in person.

     For enquiries on VR matters, please visit the “Improve Electoral System” thematic website (www.cmab.gov.hk/improvement/en/home/index.html) or the VR webpage of the REO (www.reo.gov.hk/en/voter/register.htm), or call the REO hotline at 2891 1001. read more

     The Financial Secretary has appointed Ms Miranda Kwok Pui-fong and Mr Sun Yu as members of the Risk Management Committee (RMC) of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX).          The appo… read more

     A man was convicted of operating a money service without a valid licence at Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts today (June 30). He was fined $10,000 and disqualified from holding a Money Service Operator licence for six months.  

     After investigation, Customs officers in November last year found that the man had been operating money changing business at a money exchange shop in Mong Kok while he was applying for a Money Service Operator licence. Therefore, he was suspected of operating a money service without a licence.  

     Under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance, a person who wishes to operate a remittance and/or money changing service is required to apply for a licence from the Customs and Excise Department. Any person who operates a money service without a valid licence commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $100,000 and imprisonment for six months. 

     Members of the public may report any suspected unlicensed money service operation to Customs’ 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk). read more

     Hong Kong Customs on June 22 selected for inspection an air cargo consignment arriving in Hong Kong from Brazil at Hong Kong International Airport and later seized about 110 kilograms of suspected cocaine with an estimated market value of about $130 million inside two large-scale hydraulic devices. This is the largest airborne cocaine trafficking case detected by Customs in the past two decades in terms of the amount of suspected cocaine seized.
      
     Through risk assessment and data analysis, Customs officers first selected an air cargo consignment arriving in Hong Kong from Brazil for inspection. During preliminary inspection, the officers suspected that dangerous drugs were concealed inside two large-scale hydraulic devices.  

     Customs then dismantled the parts of the two hydraulic devices with assistance from officers of the Fire Services Department and found a batch of suspected cocaine wrapped with plastic materials in each of the two devices. The total weight was about 110kg.

     Upon follow-up investigation, Customs officers arrested two men, aged 50 and 51, suspected to be connected with the case on June 26. 

     Investigation is ongoing. The two arrested men have been released on bail pending further investigation. 

     Customs reiterates that the multifarious modus operandi and increasingly sophisticated concealment methods adopted by drug trafficking syndicates will not hinder the department in detecting cases. Customs will continue to make use of risk assessment, intelligence analysis, and co-operation with other government departments and overseas law enforcement agencies to combat transnational drug trafficking activities.

     Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment.

     Members of the public may report any suspected drug trafficking activities to Customs’ 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).

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     The Government announced today (June 30) its financial results for the two months ended May 31, 2021.        Expenditure for the period April to May 2021 amounted to HK$97.1 billion and revenue HK$76…. read more