“I am very grateful that Article 23 has finally been passed,” Ms Maxine Yao, a chartered surveyor and news commentator for online-based opinion platform Think Hong Kong, told ST. “Now Hong Kong can have real legal protection against foreign influences.”
Citing her professional experience in Hong Kong’s real estate industry, Ms Yao said some influential foreigners or potential money launderers could negatively affect the property market through large-scale transactions.
She referenced a 2023 case where Hong Kong businessman Eric Chu offloaded a hotel, luxury homes and a half-built development at huge losses after his Vietnamese wife, Truong My Lan, was accused of masterminding Vietnam’s biggest financial scam amounting to US$12 billion (S$16 billion).
The artificially low selling prices further dampened sentiment in the city’s already-weak property market – a key pillar of Hong Kong’s economy – at that time.
Ms Yao said the new law allows lawyers handling such deals to report the cases as potential national security risks, while they were previously unable to do so due to client confidentiality.
“This is good protection for Hong Kong and will help weed out ‘dirty money’ from our property market,” she said.