The MPF Authority has announced that it has reprimanded and fined HSBC Bank, a trustee for an ORSO scheme, HKD 24 million. At the same time, the Authority has reprimanded HSBC's former responsible officer, Leaf Chi, and ordered that he be disqualified as a responsible officer for a period of 18 months with effect from today.

The MPF Authority said that between April 2020 and February 2021, HSBC implemented a referral program, which recruited unregistered intermediaries such as human resources agencies, or recruitment companies, to recommend potential corporate clients to HSBC's ORSO scheme. If the referred clients, intermediaries themselves or their affiliated companies participate in HSBC's ORSO scheme, make ORSO contributions to HSBC's scheme, or transfer any ORSO to HSBC's scheme, the intermediaries can receive referral fees from HSBC.

The MPF Authority believes that HSBC did not comply with the conduct requirements under the MPF Ordinance and the Code of Conduct for Registered Intermediaries in relation to the program, by offering preferential treatment to intermediaries to encourage clients to participate in, make contributions to, or transfer any ORSO to HSBC's scheme, and by failing to have adequate controls and procedures to ensure that HSBC and its affiliated intermediaries comply with the provisions of Part 4A of the MPF Ordinance.

The MPF Authority stated that Leaf Chi was responsible for supervising and executing the above program until November 2020, but failed to identify the risks of non-compliance with relevant conduct requirements, including the provisions on offering preferential treatment and engaging unregistered persons in regulated activities. The MPF Authority considers that HSBC's shortcomings can be attributed to Leaf's negligence as a responsible officer.