Hong Kong Banks Agree Not To Share Home-Loan Data

by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong

29 April 2002

In a dramatic contrast with Switzerland, where banks are fighting a rearguard action to avoid having to divulge information about their customers, Hong Kong's main banks have just been forced to back down from their intention to share information with each other about customers' borrowing practices.

Hong Kong has a Privacy Code, looked after by a Privacy Commissioner (eat your hearts out, Belgian dentists), and had been demanding changes to the privacy code which would allow them to share more information about their customers.

On Friday, with changes to the Code bogged down in negotiation, and after the Privacy Commissioner had expressed reservations about the banks' demands to share more credit data, the Hong Kong Association of Banks (HKAB) removed from its proposed changes to the code a requirement that would have allowed them to share information about customers' mortgages.

Liu Jinbao, chairman of HKAB and chief executive of Bank of China (Hong Kong), said the association had reached a consensus that it would not share customers' home-loan data. Mr Liu said the association's main priority was to make legislative changes that would allow them to share credit-card information on customers rather than mortgage information.

Terms have now been agreed that would allow banks to access information about how many other credit cards a customer held and their outstanding balances - but the banks would be required to obtain a credit-card applicant's approval before accessing their credit information.

At the moment banks can only share "negative information" about clients, such as details on customers who have failed to repay a bank loan.

Recommended