Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Amendment) Bill 2026 was gazetted to improve some regulatory measures

Zhitong Finance App learned that on November 13, the Hong Kong Government published the “Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Amendment) Bill 2026” (the “Bill”) in the Gazette to optimize the procedures for recovering arrears of Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) contributions and the MPF supervision system. The Bill will be submitted to the Legislative Council for first reading on November 25.

In order to increase deterrence against employers' arrears of contributions and encourage employers to pay their outstanding contributions as soon as possible, the Bill proposes introducing a two-tier surcharge mechanism, that is, on the basis of the existing 5% surcharge (tier 1 surcharge), if the employer does not fully pay the arrears and/or the existing tier 1 surcharge on or before the 120 days after the payment date, a tier-2 surcharge of 10% will be levied on the total amount of arrears.

Furthermore, the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPF) may issue a written notice to the employer requesting submission of the relevant income data of the employee concerned within a specified period of time (not less than 14 days); employers who fail to comply with the relevant requirements will be fined a fixed amount.

On the other hand, to enhance the accountability of MPF trustees, the Bill suggests that the Provident Fund Board may issue disciplinary orders against offending trustees, including imposing a fine of up to HK$10 million or three times the amount of profit obtained or loss avoided by the trustee as a result of the violation, whichever is greater, making a public reprimand, or a combination of the two.

The Bill would explicitly prohibit a trustee from passing on any penalty to the MPF scheme, constituent fund of the scheme, or scheme members under its management. To enhance the transparency of disciplinary actions and to deter trustees from violating regulations, the Provident Fund Council may disclose details of its enforcement actions to the public and list relevant information in public records for public inspection.

The Bill also suggests that if MPF intermediaries engage in “MPF-related activities”, regardless of whether they are involved in regulated activities, the MPF can take disciplinary action against them, thereby increasing the deterrent against MPF intermediaries engaging in misconduct while carrying out “MPF-related activities”, raising the level of the industry and enhancing the protection of scheme members. The Bill will also suggest a series of measures to enhance flexibility in the management of MPF investments and enhance risk management.

A spokesman for the Hong Kong Financial Services and the Treasury Council said, “The legislative proposals to improve the procedures for recovering arrears of contributions will not only help the Provident Fund Council improve the efficiency of collecting arrears, but also protect the retirement savings of the working population. In formulating relevant legislative proposals, we have duly incorporated the opinions of various stakeholders such as trade unions, employers' groups and human resources management groups. The vast majority of employers are law-abiding and on-time payments and are unaffected by the relevant recommendations. In terms of optimizing the supervisory system, the Provident Fund Authority will develop guidelines and strengthen explanations to assist trustees and intermediaries to further understand the details of relevant measures.”