The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), together with the Hong Kong Association of Banks and the banking sector, support the launch of the Anti-Deception Alliance (ADA) by the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) today (November 24) which will strengthen the capability of the anti-money laundering eco-system to detect, disrupt and deter scams. 
      
     ADA is the latest achievement in a long history of close public-private collaboration among the HKMA, the HKPF and the banking industry to protect the financial system and our community against fraud and financial crime risk. ADA will strengthen the effectiveness of the existing 24/7 stop payment mechanism operated by the Anti-Deception Coordination Centre (ADCC) of the HKPF, by bringing together officers of the ADCC and bank staff of participating banks (Note 1) to expedite the identification and interception of crime proceeds, as well as proactive identification of potential victims of scams. The integrated work environment of ADA, together with analytics capabilities of banks driven by the HKMA's work in AML/CFT Regtech, will boost intelligence sharing, enable swift decision-making and close cooperation among all stakeholders to grow the operational value of both the ADCC and the 24/7 stop payment mechanism.
      
     ADA is another example of how banks continue to work closely with key partners at the forefront of taking action to safeguard the community against fraud and financial crime. The Faster Payment System Suspicious Proxy ID Alert based on Scameter database will also be launched soon, and taken together with other anti-deception initiatives announced by the HKMA with the HKPF and 28 retail banks in April 2023 (Note 2) will enhance the fight against fraud and financial crime and reduce financial losses to the public. 
      
     Mr Eddie Yue, the Chief Executive of the HKMA, said, "The launch of the ADA marks another important milestone for public-private partnerships in combating fraud and financial crime. We firmly believe that rapid and effective communication and intelligence sharing will assist the banking industry to detect and prevent fraud risk and related mule account networks, as well as helping intercept fraudulent payments more effectively. All these efforts help protect and enhance public confidence in using digital financial services, and support the healthy development of Hong Kong as an international financial centre."

Note 1: The 10 participating retail banks include: The Bank of East Asia, Limited; Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited; Bank of Communications (Hong Kong) Limited; DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited; Hang Seng Bank, Limited; The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited; Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Limited; Nanyang Commercial Bank, Limited; OCBC Bank (Hong Kong) Limited; and Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited.

Note 2: The five anti-deception initiatives include real-time fraud monitoring, bank-to-bank information sharing platform, suspicious proxy ID alert model, enhancement of 24/7 stop payment mechanism and assistance to investigation work of the HKPF. For details, see www.hkma.gov.hk/eng/news-and-media/press-releases/2023/04/20230421-7/

Ends/Friday, November 24, 2023
Issued at HKT 21:41

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