銀行拒為少數族裔港人開戶口
Banks reject minorities to open account
二零一零年一月底，傳媒揭發有銀行拒絕為持有香港永久性居民身份證的巴裔港人開設戶口，並指是金融管理局向其發出內部指引，要求銀行禁止接受持有巴基斯坦護照人士的開戶申請。
有關銀行多以申請者擁有巴基斯坦護照，國籍為巴基斯坦籍，指他們來自恐怖份子國家，可能有「洗黑錢」意圖，故不能接受其開戶申請。當中有部份銀行職員要求客戶虛報國籍作「中國籍」，方可接受其申請。
金管局其後發表聲明，澄清從沒要求銀行拒絕向某種國籍人士提供銀行服務，相信個別銀行在闡釋其反黑錢指引的過程中出現偏差。
而報道提及的恆生銀行及東亞銀行，先後發聲明指內部指引從沒限制任何國籍人士申請開戶口，只是根據金管局的指引審批有關申請。恆生更表示，是銀行職員對指引缺乏充份了解。
平等機會委員會最初回應記者，指種族歧視條例並不保障「國籍歧視」，故有關銀行並沒違例。惟翌日發表聲明時卻口風一轉，指若有證據顯示，銀行的做法有針對種族成分，則有可能間接構成種族歧視。
早於幾年前，融樂會已不斷收到少數族裔 ( 尤其巴基斯坦裔人士 ) 的求助，表示銀行在其開啟戶口申請中諸多刁難，但時值種族歧視條例尚未通過，求助人有冤無路訴。然而，此情況在條例生效後並沒改善，銀行由最初以「種族」原因拒諸門外，轉而不斷強調只是「國籍問題」，有意淡化其歧視意圖。
事件曝光後，融樂會收到更多求助，當時已逾五十宗，涉及本港多間銀行。本會致函予金融管理局、銀行公會、平等機會委員會及立法會等，要求各界正視問題，尊重少數族裔本地居民享用基本銀行服務的權利。
融樂會現已敦促立法會有關事務委員會跟進事件進展，期望少數族裔的基本權益得到保障。
In January 2010, two banks were revealed by local media that Pakistanis who hold Hong Kong identity cards were rejected to open a bank account due to their nationality.
Staff of Hang Seng Bank and Bank of East Asia rejected Pakistani passport holders, who own Hong Kong identity cards, to set up a bank account, citing the so-called “internal guidelines” issued by Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) that Hong Kong banks were not authorised to process their application, according to stories covered by i-CABLE News Channel.
The staff said that applicants with Pakistani nationality were from a terrorist country and might use the bank account to launder money. A teller at the Bank of East Asia even instigated a Pakistani applicant to make a false statement by filling in “Chinese” in “Nationality” in the bank account application form, i-CABLE News Channel disclosed.
In a written statement, HKMA clarified that there was no “internal guidelines” to order banks to turn down the application of particular nationalities. It believed that some bank staff misunderstood the anti-money laundering guidelines.
Hang Seng Bank and Bank of East Asia said in written statements that they followed HKMA's guidelines to process the application and had not limited any nationality to set up a bank account.
In a haste reply to reporters, Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) said that the banks had not violated the Race Discrimination Ordinance (RDO), as it did not protect people against “national discrimination”. But in a written statement issued a day after, EOC said that if there was evidence showing that the banks rejected the application because of the applicant's ethnicity, the banks would violate the RDO.
Since several years ago, Hong Kong Unison has received appeals from ethnic minorities, especially Pakistanis, who said that they always fail to set up a bank account. But they had nowhere to complain as the RDO had not been promulgated. This situation was not improved even though the RDO had been enacted in 2008. Several banks turned down the application of the ethnic minorities, first as “ethnicity” problem, then as “nationality” problem.
Hong Kong Unison has received over 50 appeals from ethnic minorities in Hong Kong who are rejected to open a bank account due to their ethnicity and nationality. Hong Kong Unison has sent letters to HKMA, EOC and the Hong Kong Association of Banks to urge the society to respect ethnic minorities the right to use banking services.
Hong Kong Unison has urged the Legislative Council to follow up the incident.
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