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Foreign domestic helpers to undergo second round of compulsory testing

     The Government will exercise the power under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Compulsory Testing for Certain Persons) Regulation (Cap. 599J) and publish in the Gazette a compulsory testing notice, which requires all foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) working in Hong Kong to undergo a COVID-19 nucleic acid test for the second time during the period from May 15 to May 30.
　　
     A Government spokesman thanked the 340 000 FDHs who contributed to the anti-epidemic efforts by complying with the compulsory testing requirement early this month, under which three confirmed cases involving the N501Y mutant strain were detected in a timely manner to cut the latent transmission chain in the community. During the same period (i.e. May 1 to May 9), over 470 000 people also underwent testing at community testing centres and mobile specimen collection stations as they had been present at the premises which had been visited by confirmed cases involving the N501Y mutant strain, or because they belong to certain sectors or groups subject to regular testing. The Government also thanked them for their co-operation and support.
 
     “One of the close contacts had contact with case 11672 as early as April 13, and yet was only confirmed as being infected yesterday (May 11). This shows that the incubation period of the N501Y mutant strain could be relatively long. Also, upon infection, a few confirmed cases belonging to the same cluster had multiple visits to places where FDHs commonly gather, and some of them had taken off their masks during the period, thus increasing the transmission risks. We have to take the most cautious approach to reduce the risk of a community outbreak and would rather be strict than lax. After risk assessment and taking into account the job nature of FDHs who have to take care of the elderly and children, we consider it prudent to require FDHs to undergo compulsory testing for a second time in view of the above cluster. The testing arrangement is a separate issue from the Labour and Welfare Bureau’s announcement yesterday that it would not pursue the suggestion of requiring FDHs to receive vaccination when applying for employment visas,” the spokesman said.
 
     The testing period covers 16 days, including three weekends, to enable FDHs to arrange time for testing. The Government will work with the operators to enhance the testing capacity of community testing centres and mobile specimen collection stations particularly over the weekends. As at 3pm on May 12, there were over 600 000 testing slots available for booking during the period from May 15 to May 30. The spokesman called on employers to arrange for FDHs to undergo testing at community testing centres on weekdays as far as possible and make bookings in advance, to prevent FDHs from gathering and queuing for testing on Saturdays and Sundays. Mobile specimen collection stations tentatively scheduled for this weekend are listed in the Annex.
　　
     As with the previous round of compulsory testing, the FDHs who have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine for 14 days are exempted from undergoing the test. Specifically, FDHs who have received the second dose of COVID-19 vaccination on May 16 or before could be exempted from testing. For persons who received COVID-19 vaccines in places outside Hong Kong and have received all of the recommended dose(s) of a COVID-19 vaccine on or before May 16, they will also be regarded to have completed the vaccination course of the relevant COVID-19 vaccine, subject to the vaccine used being included on the list of vaccines recognised for this purpose as published on the Government’s “COVID-19 Thematic Website” (www.coronavirus.gov.hk/pdf/list_of_recognised_covid19_vaccines.pdf). The Government reminded exempted FDHs to download their electronic vaccination records or save the printouts of their vaccination records to their mobile phones, or bring along the printouts or copies of their vaccination records, so as to prove eligibility for exemption. 
　　
     The spokesman stressed that the Government has all along been implementing anti-epidemic measures based on risk assessment. Compulsory testing arrangements equally apply to persons in other high-risk sectors or those who are in contact with a considerable number of high-risk persons during their work. For example, staff of residential care homes for the elderly, residential care homes for persons with disabilities and nursing homes have been subject to 14 rounds of compulsory testing since December last year, and over 460 000 specimens have been tested through community testing centres/temporary testing centres/mobile specimen collection stations.
 
     The spokesman thanked FDHs and employers for their understanding and co-operation. Any person who fails to comply with a compulsory testing notice commits an offence and may be fined a fixed penalty of $5,000. The person would also be issued with a compulsory testing order requiring him or her to undergo testing within a specified time frame. Failure to comply with the order is an offence and the offender would be liable to a fine at level 4 ($25,000) and imprisonment for six months. The Government will strictly follow up on whether relevant persons had complied with the testing notices. read more

East Asia

HKMC’s Financial Results Highlights for 2020

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

     The Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited (HKMC) today (May 12) announced the highlights of its audited consolidated financial results for 2020 as follows:
 
2020 Financial Results Highlights
 
     The audited loss after tax of the HKMC was HK$362 million (profit after tax for 2019: HK$317 million). The decrease in profitability was primarily attributable to:

(1) the booking of increasing upfront commission expenses arising from the significant surge in the volume of new mortgage insurance policies underwritten while the corresponding premium income was amortised over the life of the respective loans;
(2) an increase in accounting loss of HKMC Annuity Limited (HKMCA), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the HKMC, as a result of the prudent provisions for statutory reserves for policies underwritten and an increase in annuity payments; and
(3) unfavourable impact by the revaluation of investments that were classified as investment securities at fair value through profit or loss upon the adoption of the Hong Kong Financial Reporting Standard 9 “Financial Instruments” since 2018.
 
     For comparison purposes, the adjusted profit after tax, return on equity and cost-to-income ratio for 2020 would be HK$376 million, 3.5 per cent and 44.8 per cent respectively after adjusting for the amortisation impact of upfront commissions expenses to match with the corresponding mortgage insurance premium income being recognised over the life of the respective loans and excluding the accounting loss of the HKMCA.
 
     Despite the reported accounting loss of the HKMCA, the embedded value of the annuity business as at December 31, 2020 was about HK$5.4 billion, which comprised HK$4.1 billion of total equity and HK$1.3 billion of present value of future profits. This indicates that the annuity business should be sustainable in the long term.
 
     The Capital Adequacy Ratio of the HKMC remained solid at 37.3 per cent as at December 31, 2020 (December 31, 2019: 30.2 per cent), well above the minimum ratio of 8 per cent stipulated by the Financial Secretary. The Board recommended that no dividend be declared for 2020 (2019: Nil).  With strong financing capability and liquidity position, the HKMC’s core operations remain resilient and stand ready to face any financial turbulence ahead in performing its strategic policy roles and attaining its social objectives.
 
2020 Business Performance Highlights
 
Asset Purchase
 

  • Purchased HK$1.3 billion loan assets (2019: HK$1.9 billion) and HK$37.6 billion loans from the Special 100% Loan Guarantee under the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme (SFGS); and
 
  • Outstanding principal balance of loan portfolio was HK$43.1 billion as at December 31, 2020 (December 31, 2019: HK$6.9 billion).
 
Debt Issuance  
 
  • Issued a record HK$58.4 billion in corporate debts, HK$29.4 billion of which with tenor of one year or above (2019: a total of HK$31.9 billion, HK$17.7 billion of which with a tenor of one year or above), being the most active corporate debt issuer in Hong Kong;
 
  • Outstanding balance of debt securities was HK$61.9 billion as at December 31, 2020 (December 31, 2019: HK$39.7 billion); and
 
  • Credit ratings of AA+ from S&P Global Ratings and Aa3 from Moody’s, same as those of the HKSAR Government.
 
Mortgage Insurance Programme (MIP)
 
  • New mortgage loans drawn down amounted to HK$98.3 billion (2019: HK$33.3 billion); and
 
  • 86 per cent of loans drawn down (in terms of loan amount) were secured on properties in the secondary market, demonstrating the importance of the MIP to homebuyers in the secondary market.
 
SME Financing Guarantee Scheme
 
  • Approved around 19,000 applications under the 80% Guarantee Product with a total loan amount of approximately HK$82.2 billion.  Since its launch in May 2012, around 90 per cent of the benefitted borrowers were small and medium-sized enterprises each with less than 50 employees;
 
  • Launched the 90% Guarantee Product on December 16, 2019. As at the end of December 2020, approved around 2,700 applications with a total loan amount of approximately HK$4.9 billion; and
 
  • Launched the Special 100% Loan Guarantee on 20 April 2020.  As at the end of December 2020, approved more than 25,000 applications with a total loan amount of approximately HK$39.7 billion, of which HK$37.6 billion loan assets were purchased by the HKMC.
 
Reverse Mortgage Programme (RMP)
 
  • Approved 630 applications (2019: 676 applications) under the RMP, with an average property value of HK$6.4 million and an average monthly payout of HK$18,700.      

HKMC Annuity Plan
 
  • Issued 2,606 policies (2019: 2,188 policies), with total premiums received at around HK$2.5 billion (2019: HK$1.6 billion) and an average premium of HK$974,000 (2019: HK$745,000); and
 
  • Lowered the minimum eligible age to 60 from 65 on February 26, 2020.

     Further details of the HKMC’s consolidated financial results and financial review for 2020 are set out at the Annex. read more

East Asia