FSTB publishes consultation conclusions and plans to implement first-phase measures as early as August to enhance regulation of licensed money lenders
The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) published today (March 13) the consultation conclusions and specific measures on enhancing the regulation of licensed money lenders (money lenders) to address the issue of excessive borrowing and better protect the public. The FSTB will implement relevant measures in two phases.
The measures under the first phase mainly include introducing "debt servicing ratio" caps for unsecured personal loans of low-income earners, prohibiting money lenders from requesting borrowers to provide loan referees, and requiring money lenders to include a risk warning statement specified by the Companies Registry (CR) in their money lending advertisements. These measures will be implemented in August this year. Meanwhile, the measures relating to the Credit Data Smart (CDS) under the second phase will be rolled outin June next year. The FSTB and the CR are drafting the revised licensing conditions of the money lenders' licences and administrative guidelines and have held discussions with the Judiciary on updating issued money lender licences in phases to dovetail with the implementation of the measures (see Annex).
With a view to enhancing the regulation of money lenders, the FSTB conducted from June to August last year a public consultation covering key features on enhancing regulation of unsecured personal loans, strengthening protection of the public interest, optimising and improving the affordability assessment of borrowers in respect of unsecured personal loans, strengthening the complaint-handling process, stepping up publicity and education, and enhancing the regulatory regime of money lenders. During the consultation period, a total of 150 submissions were received from the community. The FSTB also briefed the Panel on Financial Affairs of the Legislative Council (LegCo FA panel) and organised briefing sessions for the money-lending industry, professional bodies and non-governmental organisations to explain to them the details.
A spokesman for the FSTB said, "The Government is committed to further strengthening the regulation of money lenders to protect the public interest. We are pleased to note that the community is very supportive of enhancing the regulation of money lenders and agrees that targeted measures should be adopted to address the issue of excessive borrowing. Respondents generally support the major measures put forward by the Government and provided valuable comments on the specific details of various measures. We will brief the LegCo FA panel next month on the consultation conclusions and the details of the various measures."
The FSTB hopes that the community will continue to support the implementation of the measures, with a view to addressing the issue of excessive borrowing via a multipronged approach. The FSTB and the CR will maintain close liaison with industry associations through different channels and provide information and guidance to money lenders, in order to ensure smooth implementation of the measures.
The consultation conclusions have been uploaded to the FSTB website at www.fstb.gov.hk/fsb/en/publication/consult/doc/ConsultationConclusionsMoneyLenders-e.pdf.
Source: AI-found images
