Legal Update: Banking (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 

Fraud, particularly digital fraud, is on the rise globally. Hong Kong, as an international financial centre, trading hub and an intermediary between Mainland China and the global market, has strengthened its anti-fraud efforts. These include enhancing information sharing through public-private partnerships between the Hong Kong Police Force and the banking sector. However, there remains an information gap which is often exploited by criminals to move and conceal illicit funds across their mule account networks.   

In an effort to narrow this information gap, the Government has recently proposed to amend the Banking Ordinance to put in place a mechanism of AI-to-AI information sharing. The proposed mechanism will provide a safe harbour for AIs to share with each other information of both corporate and individual accounts on a voluntary basis. It aims to allow for more effective detection and prevention of prohibited conduct, including money laundering, terrorist financing, and financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (“Prohibited Conduct”). 

In this update, Pádraig Walsh from our Data Privacy and Cybersecurity practice looks at the Banking (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 (“Amendment Ordinance”). The Amendment Ordinance, gazetted on 12 June 2025 and now in force since 3 November 2025. 

The key features of the proposed mechanism are as follows: 

(a) The voluntary mechanism allows for the disclosure of information concerning a customer of an AI who may be linked to any Prohibited Conduct, as well as any related entity, account, or transaction associated with that customer.  Examples include: 

(i) bank account numbers; 

(ii) personal data (e.g. name, date of birth, Hong Kong Identify Card number) of the customer in question, the counterparties, and beneficial owners or connected parties of the customer; 

(iii) details of relevant transactions including the counterparties; and 

(iv) reasons why the transactions or activities may be involved in a Prohibited Conduct. 

(b) An AI may request another AI to disclose information in aid of its inquiry for detecting or preventing Prohibited Conduct. The recipient AI may disclose information to the requesting AI in response to such request. Alternatively, an AI may disclose information on its own initiative to another AI and the Joint Financial Intelligence Unit (JFIU) to alert the recipient AI of suspected crime. An AI may share information bilaterally or with multiple parties via FINEST or other secure platforms designated by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (“HKMA”).  

(c) Where an AI has reasonable grounds to believe that seeking the data subject’s consent would risk prejudicing the conduct of inquiries for the detection or prevention of prohibited conduct, disclosure may be made without such consent. 

(d) A safe harbour from prosecution or civil liability is available to AIs that make disclosures under the mechanism in good faith, with reasonable care, and in compliance with the confidentiality requirements under section 68AAF of the Amendment Ordinance.  

The HKMA will issue guidelines to assist AIs in safeguarding data privacy and confidentiality when sharing information under the mechanism. 

Concluding remarks 

The Amendment Ordinance marks a significant step for Hong Kong in aligning with international practice, introducing legislation that permits information sharing among financial institutions and other regulated entities to facilitate the detection and prevention of crime. This information sharing mechanism is expected to strengthen Hong Kong’s ability to combat fraud. 

The Banking (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 is available at this link. 

Pádraig Walsh

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Disclaimer: This publication is general in nature and is not intended to constitute legal advice. You should seek professional advice before taking any action in relation to the matters dealt with in this publication. This article was published on 12 November 2025.