Legal system
Money management, according to the current legislation, is operations for the exchange of funds and the implementation of money transfers (with MSO license) in or from the territory of the Hong Kong SAR. They are conducted by those companies for which this type of activity is the main one.
Money exchange service – carrying out operations to exchange money for local currency. It includes organizing and sending money to any country in the world and on the territory of Hong Kong and organizing and receiving funds in Hong Kong and abroad.
Money means not only currency in any monetary units, but also invoices, including travel invoices. It should be noted that such a monetary form as cryptocurrency, which is popular in many countries, is not a legal payment solution in Hong Kong and operations are not carried out with it.
The licensed company must adhere to certain rules: comply with applicable Hong Kong SAR policy requirements, maintain AML policy, report any suspicious transaction, place the license in a conspicuous spot in the office of the company and submit reports to the Commissioner of Customs and Excise within the specified time frame. If this requirement is violated, the company may lose its license.
Specificity of the Registering MSO License in HK
In Hong Kong, the payment service activities are regulated by a special authority – the Customs and Excise Department. The license issued to a particular company must comply with the requirements of the Hong Kong Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Ordinance. Therefore, the obtaining of the license must be entrusted to a company that has been engaged in this type of activity for many years and has positive reviews.
An MSO license can be obtained by a Hong Kong-registered company with limited and unlimited liability, as well as a foreign one, this means that it can be obtained by both a resident and a non-resident. A company wishing to obtain an MSO license must pass a special test that is aimed at identifying unreliable or corrupt people. After that, an obligatory requirement is that the company must register the premises at a specific address. In such a room, meetings with partners and clients are held, questions about the main activity are resolved and advertising activities are carried out. And the work must be under the control of the licensee (landlord or tenant). The choice of premises must be approved by a representative of the Customs and Excise Department.
The management of a company wishing to engage in financial transactions submits a certain package of documents to the company, which will deal with obtaining a license and pays a fee for filing an application with the Customs and Excise Department. After that, a special interview is held and a special form is issued for entering other necessary information. Usually, the company dealing with the matter of obtaining a license accompanies the applicant at all stages starting with its registration until the license is obtained. The main documents for obtaining an MSO license are information about the company, its members, confirming the office address, business plan and related AML policies. It must be remembered that a bankrupt company, not reinstated in rights, and also having managers with a criminal record of any nature, cannot obtain a license.
Useful information
Initially, the license is obtained for a period of 2 years. Further, if you intend to continue financial activities before the expiration of license’s validity period (not later than 45 days in advance), it must be extended. The license is renewed in case of positive work experience. The license is terminated in such cases:
Death of an individual;
Termination of the company’s activities;
Upon dissolution of the partnership;
Violation of activities.
In addition, in case of changes in activities within 1 month from the date of changes, it is necessary to notify the authorized body in written form about renaming of the company, changing the status, bank account, scope of activity, management and composition of the company’s participants, office address.
Upon termination of activities within 7 days, the licensee must return the license to the Customs and Excise Department.
Thanks to good practices, experience gained, qualified theoretical knowledge, the experts employed by the Private Financial Services will quickly and qualitatively help to open and register the business activity, and obtain MSO license in Hong Kong.