Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Christopher Hui said today the Government’s proposed regulatory measures in the money lenders regime are highly targeted to address issues that need to be dealt with.

Speaking to reporters this morning, Mr Hui said the move aims to protect citizens, particularly households often used as referees in loan activities involving domestic helpers.

Under the proposal, money lenders will be prohibited from requesting borrowers to provide a loan referee from August 1.

Another measure is to introduce debt servicing ratio caps for low-income earners to prevent excessive borrowing.

Mr Hui stated that the new measure will limit the proportion of monthly income used for debt repayment. The requirement applies to all individuals with a monthly income below $12,000, including foreign domestic helpers.

“The overall approach that we take to deal with this money lending regime is that we are applying a rather equivalent requirement, not just to domestic helpers but everybody with a monthly income below $12,000,” he said.

He added that to prevent borrowers from circumventing the rules by using multiple lenders, all licensed lenders will be required to share borrower information.

Regarding the situation in the Middle East, Mr Hui affirmed that Hong Kong’s financial system remains robust, stable and sophisticated on both domestic and international fronts. 

“That's why against this backdrop, we are proposing some measures to strengthen our role as an asset and wealth management centre in the current regime where many investors would like to diversify their investments,” he added.