To penalize Hong Kongers emigrating under a dual passport following imposition of the NSL, Hong Kong’s government is denying access to pensions from the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF), Hong Kong’s pension fund. This fund is managed in part by U.S. financial institutions. In principle, when Hong Kong residents permanently depart Hong Kong to live abroad, they are entitled to early withdrawals from the MPF, money that can be used to cover resettlement costs. To access the MPF fund, Hong Kongers who have departed to the UK have relied on using their British National Overseas (BNO) passports, presenting them as a key document to demonstrate overseas residency and initiate the withdrawal process.
However, in March 2021, MPF authorities announced that BNO passports could no longer be used as documentation to enable
early MPF withdrawal. This change in regulations limits more than 90,000 Hong Kong residents who have emigrated under the
BNO passport from having the necessary documentation to make their withdrawal from the MPF. Based on data from the Hong
Kong government, human rights group Hong Kong Watch finds that these individuals are now being denied over $2.74 billion
(HKD 21.5 billion) in MPF pension funds being held by international banks, including by the UK-headquartered Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) and U.S.-headquartered Prudential. Overseas banks manage much of the MPF, with HSBC managing over 30 percent of funds.
Multinational banks have been clear in their reasoning for rejecting early pension withdrawal. In letters to departed Hong Kong residents, they point to the changed BNO regulation as a reason for withholding funds. In response to this changed guidance, a May 2023 letter signed by 90 UK Members of Parliament criticized the actions of the Hong Kong government, describing the derecognition of the BNO as retaliation and stating that the “punitive denial of Hong Kongers to access their savings is curtailing the ability of many to start new lives and to prosper and thrive here in the UK.”