The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority: The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced the launch today (April 1) of the delivery-versus-payment (DvP) link for cross-currency secu… read more
The Secretary for Food and Health has earlier stipulated a requirement on air change or air purifiers to be complied with in dine-in restaurants in the directions in relation to catering business under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Requirements and Directions) (Business and Premises) Regulation (Cap. 599F). The Working Group, established for the smooth implementation of the requirement, announced today (April 1) that air purifiers that meet the specified specifications will be uploaded onto the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD)’s webpage (www.fehd.gov.hk/english/licensing/guide_general_reference/Information_air-changes_purification.html) by batches, for reference by catering premises operators and ventilation contractors.
The Working Group has earlier invited suppliers to provide information on their air purifiers that meet the specified specifications, and information of around 500 models of air purifiers were received by the deadline. The Working Group is making its best endeavours to offer views on whether the information submitted by suppliers should be able to match the specified specifications in the directions. If the information of an individual form is incomplete, the Working Group will contact the submitter to follow up.
Balancing considerations like the need of the Working Group to handle the massive information prudently while the wish of the trades for the information to be made known soonest possible, the Working Group has decided to handle and announce the information by batches according to the timing of submitting the forms; to list the devices in a batch in alphabetical order of their individual brand names; and to strive to complete the handling and announcement of the full list of air purifiers that meet the specified specifications in the shortest time possible. The first batch of air purifiers meeting specified specifications has been uploaded to the webpage. The Working Group will continue to review the remaining information and update the list indefatigably.
To comply with the requirements on air change or air purifiers in catering premises under the Regulation, catering premises operators are required to register at the FEHD’s webpage on or before April 30 that the air change per hour at seating areas of their premises has reached six, or air purifiers that meet the specified specifications have been installed according to the on-the-ground situation, together with a certificate issued by a registered specialist contractor (ventilation works category). Catering premises completing the registration may, upon confirmation by the FEHD, download a notice at the FEHD’s webpage for display at the entrance of the premises.
A spokesman for the FEHD said, “The Working Group has formulated an initial draft of the guidelines on air change and air purifiers at catering premises. After consulting departments concerned, the Working Group will announce the guidelines soonest possible, for reference by catering premises operators and ventilation contractors.”
The spokesman continued, “The Working Group assists in compiling the list of air purifiers, which will help the smooth compliance of the requirement by catering premises operators and ventilation contractors, so as to protect the health of staff, customers and the public, and to fortify the public’s confidence in patronising catering premises.” He appealed to catering premises operators to strictly comply with relevant regulations on prevention and control of disease to minimise the risk of transmission of COVID-19. read more
The Food and Health Bureau announced today (March 31) that the 21 community testing centres (CTCs) will remain open during the five-day holidays for the Easter and Ching Ming Festival (April 2 to 6) to enable members of the public t… read more
The Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Erick Tsang Kwok-wai, this afternoon (March 31) chaired two briefing sessions to brief Hong Kong deputies to the National People’s Congress (NPC) and Hong Kong members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) on the background, concepts and main contents of improving the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), and the important roles of the Hong Kong deputies to the NPC and Hong Kong members of the CPPCC under the new electoral system.
Mr Tsang began by elaborating on the background of the improvements to the electoral system. He said that one of the key principles of the new electoral system is to broaden the representation of the Election Committee (EC) and the Legislative Council (LegCo), and enhance the balanced and orderly political representation of the community as well as safeguarding the overall and fundamental interests of the society. Mr Tsang pointed out that the aim of the Central Authorities taking the initiative at the national level to improve the electoral system of Hong Kong is to ensure that Hong Kong can stay true to the original aspiration in implementing the principle of “one country, two systems” and putting Hong Kong back on the right track. Only through “patriots administering Hong Kong” can various deep-seated problems be effectively resolved and the long-term stability and safety of Hong Kong be achieved.
The core of the current improvements to the electoral system is to enlarge the membership of the EC from 1 200 to 1 500, and to adjust and improve the composition of the EC by empowering it with new functions. Mr Tsang also highlighted that the improvements greatly enhanced the functions and roles of the Hong Kong members of relevant national organisations. The Hong Kong deputies to the NPC and Hong Kong members of the CPPCC will be the Ex-officio Members in the new “fifth sector” of the enlarged EC while some EC seats will be returned through election among Hong Kong members of the relevant national organisations. Apart from nominating LegCo Members, the Hong Kong deputies to the NPC, Hong Kong members of the CPPCC and that of the relevant national organisations will elect one LegCo Member in one of the new functional constituencies of the LegCo.
The briefing sessions were conducted in an interactive manner, the attending Hong Kong deputies to the NPC and Hong Kong members of the CPPCC actively took part in the discussions during the briefings. Apart from expressing their staunch support in the work of improving the electoral system, they offered plenty of useful and constructive suggestions to the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau and had in-depth exchanges with the Bureau on details of the electoral system.
Representatives of Hong Kong members of relevant national organisations, who have a more comprehensive understanding of the national affairs, have important roles to play in strengthening the elements of the country and integrating the national interests with Hong Kong’s well-being, Mr Tsang said.
He hoped that all attendees would fully support the work of improving electoral system and continued to play conducive roles in supporting the implementation of executive-led governance structure of the HKSAR and helping the government in implementing policies to enhance economic development and improve people’s livelihood after the electoral system is improved.
In regard to certain news reports on the implementation of the inspection arrangements for the Companies Register, a spokesman for the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau today (March 31) responded as follows:
Upon the implementation of the new inspection regime, all searchers (including the media) will continue to be able to access the information of directors on the Companies Register, including their personal correspondence addresses (in place of the current residential addresses) and partial identification numbers (IDN) (the alphabet(s) and three digits in the case of Hong Kong identity card). The availability of other information currently available for inspection on the register will not be in any way hindered. Such information, together with the name of a director, should be sufficient to enable searchers to ascertain the identity of the director concerned.
The new inspection arrangements are comparable to those adopted in other overseas common law jurisdictions. When we consulted the public on the relevant new arrangements in 2009, we have made reference to the practices of the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia, where no personal identification numbers are required to be filed on their respective public registers. On residential address of directors, the UK company law gives every director the option to provide a service address for the public record, with his/her residential address kept on a separate record to which access is restricted to specified public authorities. There are also jurisdictions allowing directors to file “alternate addresses” in place of their residential addresses.
The Companies Ordinance (CO) stipulates that post office box numbers are not allowed to be used as the correspondence addresses by company directors. The correspondence addresses filed by company directors must be specific addresses that can be used for service of documents. In case there is a situation where service of documents to a director by way of the correspondence address is not possible, the CO also provides that the Court has the authority to make an order instructing the Companies Registry to disclose the residential addresses of the directors concerned for communication purpose. The Registrar of Companies may also make available the residential address of a director for public inspection if the correspondence address is no longer valid. Therefore, the new inspection regime will not impede the necessary service of documents. On conducting customer due diligence, searchers will have access to the correspondence address and partial IDN of a director, and they may also apply to the Companies Registry for inspecting the residential address and full IDN after obtaining authorisation from that director.
Specified persons to be defined by the relevant subsidiary legislation can apply to the Registrar of Companies for access to full personal information on the register. The specified persons include shareholders of a company and public officers or public bodies (including law enforcement agencies), trustees in bankruptcy, liquidators, and inspectors under the Trustee Ordinance, the CO and the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance, etc.
The new inspection regime is indeed stipulated in the yet-to-commenced provisions in the CO which have undergone extensive consultation in 2009. At the time, the majority of respondents to the consultation supported masking of the residential addresses and full IDN of directors and company secretaries due to privacy and risks of misuse of information. Many also supported following the arrangements adopted in other jurisdictions, for example allowing access to residential addresses only by certain institutions such as public authorities, upon application. In fact, unregulated disclosure of personal information such as personal full IDN and residential addresses may potentially increase crime risk, such as fraud. The new inspection regime was passed by the Legislative Council in July 2012. However, since some stakeholders held diverse views over how the arrangements should be brought into operation, the Government decided to first implement the provisions for company secretaries to provide correspondence addresses instead of residential addresses under the new inspection regime in 2014, while deferring commencement of the remaining provisions of the new inspection regime in order not to delay the implementation of other major parts of the CO.
In recent years, there has been rising community concern over whether personal information contained in public registers are adequately protected, especially in the light of increased reported cases of doxxing and personal data misuse. In its report issued in 2015, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data suggested, amongst other things, the Government to implement the previous proposal to limit the disclosure of identification numbers and residential addresses of company directors filed with the Companies Registry.
Implementation of the new inspection regime would involve substantial modifications of the Companies Registry’s information system. We therefore propose bringing the provisions into operation by phases to enhance personal data protection. We respect that the community will take time to understand how the new inspection regime will work in practice. We therefore will consult the Legislative Council (LegCo) Panel on Financial Affairs next Friday (April 9) on the entire plan to implement the regime by phases to enable LegCo members and the public to better understand the proposed arrangements.
We would like to reiterate that the new inspection regime has struck a reasonable balance between continuing to allow public access to the necessary personal information to ascertain the identity of directors and other major officers of companies, and protecting personal privacy. read more