Gammon Construction Limited was fined $181,000 at Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts today (November 8) for violation of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance, the Construction Sites (Safety) Regulations and the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Safety Management) Regulation. The prosecutions were launched by the Labour Department.
 
     The case involved a fatal accident that occurred on July 21, 2020, at a tunnel under construction in Kowloon Bay. While a team of workers was working on a reinforcement bar structure on the site, the structure suddenly collapsed, causing the workers to fall together with the collapsing structure. As a result, one worker died and six workers sustained injuries.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) wishes to alert members of the public to a press release issued by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited relating to fraudulent websites and phishing instant messages, which has been reported to the HKMA. A hyperlink to the press release is available on the HKMA website.
      
     The HKMA wishes to remind the public that banks will not send SMS or e-mails with embedded hyperlinks which direct them to the banks' websites to carry out transactions. They will not ask customers for sensitive personal information, such as login passwords or one-time password, by phone, email or SMS (including via embedded hyperlinks).

     Anyone who has provided his or her personal information, or who has conducted any financial transactions, through or in response to the websites or instant messages concerned, should contact the bank using the contact information provided in the press release, and report the matter to the Police by contacting the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force at 2860 5012.

     â€‹The male owner of a grocery store and his wife as well as a female shopkeeper were fined $10,000 to $35,000 today (November 8) at Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts after being convicted of operating a money service without a valid licence.

     Acting on information, Customs officers disguised as customers and visited a grocery store in Mong Kok for remitting money to Indonesia on June 16 last year. The wife of the store owner followed the instruction and passed a sheet of paper with remittance information to the shopkeeper at the scene for processing. The shopkeeper subsequently collected the money involved from one of the officers and issued a remittance order for the transaction. 

     Since the money service operator licence of the store has expired on December 11, 2019, the two above-mentioned persons and the store owner were considered to be operating a money service without a licence.

     Under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (AMLO), 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. 

     Also, under the AMLO, any person who provides false information in an application for a Money Service Operator Licence commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $50,000 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).

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), as representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSAR Government), announced today (November 8) that a tender of one-year HONIA-indexed Floating Rate Notes (Notes) under the Institutional Bond Issuance Programme will be held on November 17 (Wednesday), for settlement on November 18 (Thursday).

     A total of HK$1.0 billion one-year Notes will be tendered. The Notes will mature on November 18, 2022 and will carry interest indexed to the Hong Kong Dollar Overnight Index Average (HONIA), payable quarterly in arrears.
      
     Under the Institutional Bond Issuance Programme, tender is open only to Recognized Dealers which are appointed as Primary Dealers. Anyone wishing to apply for the Notes on offer can do so through any of the Primary Dealers on the current published list, which can be obtained from the Government Bond Programme's website at www.hkgb.gov.hk. Each tender must be for an amount of HK$50,000 or integral multiples thereof.
      
     Tender results will be published on the HKMA's website, the Government Bond Programme's website, the Refinitiv screen (HKGBINDEX), and Bloomberg (GBHK <GO>) not later than 3pm on the tender day.

HKSAR Government Institutional Bond Issuance Programme tender information
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     Tender information of one-year HONIA-indexed Floating Rate Notes under the Institutional Bond Issuance Programme:
 

     The Government announced today (November 8) that, in accordance with the Articles of Association of the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) and as the majority shareholder, the Financial Secretary Incorporated has re-appointed Dr Rex Auyeung Pak-kuen as the Chairman of the board of directors of the Corporation for two and a half years.

     The re-appointment of Dr Auyeung will take effect from January 1, 2022, to June 30, 2024. Dr Auyeung first took up the post of the Chairman of the board of directors of the MTRCL on July 1, 2019.