Mainland investors' account new declaration + zero balance cleanup, compliance costs have increased again, but it's still better than being used for money laundering.

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) Circular states that an inspection of the account opening procedures of 12 licensed brokerages found that some institutions accepted suspicious or forged documents during cross-border account openings through overseas intermediaries, failed to identify warning signals, leading to accounts being used for suspicious fund transfers without trading. It requires licensed corporations to conduct self-inspections promptly and close such accounts, strengthen monitoring of anomalies such as deposits and withdrawals only, frequent bank changes, and shared accounts; for mainland investors' accounts, add investor declarations and close zero-balance inactive accounts. Senior management bears ultimate responsibility for internal control and compliance; violations will result in restrictions, external reviews, and even law enforcement actions.