The Regulation of Debt Collection Practices Summary Citizens Party agrees that Hong Kong needs explicit legislation on governing debt collection practices.
Many advanced economies have such laws.
While we do not oppose to a licensing regime, we doubt its effectiveness in curbing abusive activities of unlicensed practitioners. Such a proposed law outlines what constitute harassment and false representation. Chapter 4 of the consultation paper briefly describes the existing civil remedies for abusive debt collection. Existing remedies are not sufficiently effective and originating creditors should be more aware of their own liability for the acts of third-party collection agents. While financial institutions under the monitoring of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority may well observe the Code of Bank Practice 1997, other creditors may pursue expeditious but illegal ways to recover their monies owed.