Hong Kong, 24 April 2026: As part of our commitment to the highest professional standards, we were pleased to host an interactive seminar on compliance with Hong Kong’s strict anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CTF) regulations as they apply to the legal sector.
We welcomed to our office Patrycja Kosc and Nelson Chan, respectively Head of AML and AML Officer with the Law Society of Hong Kong, for an interactive discussion with our legal team and support staff. The session commenced with opening remarks from the Chairman of the Law Society’s AML Committee, Jimmy Chan.
Attendees were given an overview of Hong Kong’s obligations as a long-standing member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global independent watchdog that sets international standards and promotes legal, regulatory and operational measures to combat illicit financial activities.
BC&C Senior Partner Colin Cohen explains: “Hong Kong’s status as a world-class financial and legal centre depends on a robust regulatory regime with adherence to FATF’s 40 Recommendations and zero tolerance for money laundering and other illegal financial activities. A weak AML/CTF framework could lead to a grey-listing which has shown to have real impacts on an economy, including a fall in foreign domestic inflow by around 7.6% of GDP on average, with cumulative losses reaching 3 to 7% of GDP if a country remains on the grey list continuously for several years.
“The Law Society is responsible for overseeing AML/CTF compliance in the legal sector and has been updating its supervisory framework ahead of the next FATF evaluation in 2029, which is around the corner. Latest measures include requiring law firms to complete a mandatory self-assessment form – and I’m pleased to say this resulted in a 100% completion rate throughout the industry – and, in the first quarter of 2026, a free client name screening tool was developed and rolled out by the Law Society to assist firms of all sizes in strengthening their compliance arrangements.
“We are grateful to Patrycja, Nelson and Jimmy for visiting our office to bring us up to date on the application of AML/CTF requirements and share how we can expect oversight and supervision to take shape in the legal profession going forward. It was an extremely useful discussion and we fully support the Law Society’s initiatives to strengthen supervisory activities, enhance compliance culture and maintain close alignment with international AML/CTF standards.”
Hong Kong has several pieces of legislation relating to AML/CTF, the main one being the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (Financial Institutions) Ordinance (Cap. 615). This imposes legal requirements relating to customer due diligence and record-keeping on financial institutions. It designates the Law Society as the regulator responsible for overseeing legal professionals’ compliance with the statutory client due diligence and record-keeping requirements.
