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14 August, 2016
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority ("HKMA") issued a press release on 18 May 2016 on the launch of a "Cyber Security Fortification Initiative" ("CFI"), which is aimed at raising the level of cyber security of banks in Hong Kong. The HKMA also released a formal circular on 24 May 2016 setting out that it is a supervisory requirement for banks to implement the CFI.
Following the announcement of this initiative, the HKMA further issued a circular on 26 May 2016 reiterating the requirement for Authorised Institutions providing Internet banking services to strengthen further their security controls, in light of recent incidents involving unauthorised share trading transactions.
This initiative follows a previous circular issued by the HKMA on 15 September 2015 where it had made clear its expectations on the board and senior management of Authorised Institutions to strengthen their oversight of cyber security controls, as summarised in our earlier bulletin dated 5 November 2015 and available here.
These recent developments emphasise the need for banks to enhance their internal cyber security controls to protect against cyber attacks and adhere to these increased regulatory obligations and expectations.
For further information about CFI, please click here to read a previous article.
For further information, please contact:
William Hallatt, Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills
William.Hallatt@hsf.com
