Bloomberg report
In a letter to lawmakers distributed on Wednesday, The International Chamber of Commerce – Hong Kong urged the government to reconsider the proposal that would limit information available to the public to only provide partial identification numbers of company directors and remove their personal addresses.
ICC-HK Chairman JP Lee said in the letter that the group was “at a loss” over the eagerness to push through the measures and that they will have “adverse consequences” for Hong Kong’s business environment and its status “as an attractive city for investment and trade.”
The proposal was unveiled in late March and will be discussed at a hearing in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council on April 9. The government tried to push through a similar plan in 2013 but then had to backtrack amid strong opposition from investors, the press and the public.
The ICC-HK said the pace of the legislation has been so hurried that it hasn’t been able to prepare a proper response and instead enclosed a letter from 2013 outlining its misgivings.
It’s in the public interest to retain public access to names, addresses and ID numbers and the changes would “condone clandestine and doubtful activities at the expense of normal business dealings,” the ICC argued in 2013. “One may even ask if the government unwittingly instead encourages corruption, money laundering, and fraud.”
