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Control over overseas funds of HK company

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  1. #1

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    Control over overseas funds of HK company

    If I open a company in HK, and that company has bank accounts in other countries with non-HK banks (e.g. Barclays Bank), can the HK government block that account?

    Thank you.


  2. #2

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    Depends. Are you planning a revolution?

    shri and aw451 like this.

  3. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by john_1122:
    If I open a company in HK, and that company has bank accounts in other countries with non-HK banks (e.g. Barclays Bank), can the HK government block that account?

    Thank you.
    Short answer - No.

    HK government does not have jurisdiction over banks/business/activities etc. in other countries. Therefore, if your HK registered company has an account in the UK or SG etc., Carrie Lam cannot block or freeze it. They can at best "request" the overseas government(s) to block/freeze that account, but that's unlikely to be entertained by them.

  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by fullmetaljacket:
    Short answer - No.

    HK government does not have jurisdiction over banks/business/activities etc. in other countries. Therefore, if your HK registered company has an account in the UK or SG etc., Carrie Lam cannot block or freeze it. They can at best "request" the overseas government(s) to block/freeze that account, but that's unlikely to be entertained by them.
    Thank you. So, I, as the owner of the company, would still be able to use that account? Bearing in mind that the account would be in the name of the company.

  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by john_1122:
    Thank you. So, I, as the owner of the company, would still be able to use that account? Bearing in mind that the account would be in the name of the company.
    Yes, subject to the following:

    1) You have the authorisation from the company to operate that account (assuming you'd set that up).
    2) The company is still in existence (i.e., not being liquidated or "attached/administered" by the Courts in HK.
    shri likes this.

  6. #6

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    As pin has said: Depends

    Under the new National Security Law the government can confiscate your assets. If they confiscate your company then they can obviously also access the overseas account and transfer the money back to HK.


  7. #7

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    Thank you!!

    So it seems that the short answer to my questions "can the HK government block that account?" is: yes


  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by john_1122:
    Thank you!!

    So it seems that the short answer to my questions "can the HK government block that account?" is: yes

    Yes and No. Yes, they can confiscate the company and issue orders/notices to overseas banks to repatriate the funds back to HK. Is that really going to be entertained by the overseas banks and their governments? If they allow it once, it will set a precedence, and a wrong one. Every other country/government will start asking them to freeze and repatriate funds of their citizens/organisations due to some reason (valid or made up). Banks in Switzerland must be getting hundreds of such requests/notices on a daily basis. If they start doing what other governments are asking them to do, the Swiss economy will collapse.
    Last edited by fullmetaljacket; 09-12-2020 at 04:19 PM.

  9. #9

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    More likely, if you are present in HK, they will just trump up some fraud / money laundering charges for that time when you accidentally rounded up a company expense to the nearest dollar. Obviously this is predicated on you pissing off the wrong government official and them not having access to your overseas accounts.

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  10. #10

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    Are you a drug dealer or deal with proceeds of crime?

    https://www.cps.gov.uk/crime-info/proceeds-crime

    HK Gov't could apply to the UK courts if it's fraud, proceeds of crime.

    UK court's can already freeze Worldwide assets......

    Is it possible to obtain a worldwide freezing injunction against “persons unknown”? - ONC

    https://www.shlegal.com/insights/inn...rseas-trustees

    Last edited by ArrynField; 09-12-2020 at 07:18 PM.

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