Banking Policy Department
|
Our Ref.: |
B1/1C |
16 May 2008
The Chief Executive
All Authorized Institutions
Dear Sir/Madam,
Complaints
Against Debt Collection Agents
Employed by Authorized Institutions
I write to inform you of the results of the industry survey on complaints against debt collection agents (DCAs) employed by authorized institutions (AIs) for the first quarter of 2008. Please see the Annex for details.
During the reporting period, 40 AIs used the services of DCAs. They together assigned 73,570 accounts to 25 DCAs.
A total of 30 complaints against 10 DCAs were received by 10 AIs (compared with 21 complaints against 11 DCAs received by 11 AIs in the previous quarter). The incidence of complaints per 1,000 accounts assigned increased to 0.41 from 0.29 in the previous quarter. Five complaints were lodged by unrelated third parties, compared with none in the previous quarter.
One instance of breach of the Code of Banking Practice was reported during the quarter. In this case, the debtor was a company and the DCA concerned took dunning actions on one of its directors, instead of pursuing the debt from the company itself. The AI concerned has issued a warning letter to the DCA.
AIs are reminded of the need to monitor the activities of their DCAs vigilantly.
Yours faithfully,
Rita
Yeung
Acting Executive Director (Banking Policy)
|
c.c. |
The Chairman, Hong Kong Association of Banks |
Survey on DCA complaints received by AIs – Q1/2008
Table 1: AIs using DCA service
|
|
Q1/2008 |
Q4/2007 |
Q3/2007 |
Q2/2007 |
Q1/2007 |
|
AIs receiving DCA complaints |
10 |
11 |
12 |
10 |
13 |
|
AIs receiving no DCA complaints |
30 |
28 |
27 |
29 |
27 |
|
Total |
40 |
39 |
39 |
39 |
40 |
Table 2: Number of DCAs employed by AIs
|
|
Q1/2008 |
Q4/2007 |
Q3/2007 |
Q2/2007 |
Q1/2007 |
|
1 – 5 |
24 |
22 |
21 |
21 |
21 |
|
6 – 10 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
15 |
16 |
|
11 – 15 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
|
Total |
40 |
39 |
39 |
39 |
40 |
Table 3: Incidence of DCA complaints
|
|
Q1/2008 |
Q4/2007 |
Q3/2007 |
Q2/2007 |
Q1/2007 |
|
DCA complaints received (A) |
30 |
21 |
25 |
26 |
31 |
|
Accounts assigned (B) |
73,570 |
73,087 |
80,557 |
78,471 |
76,537 |
|
Incidence of complaints per 1,000 accounts (C = A/B x 1,000) |
0.41 |
0.29 |
0.31 |
0.33 |
0.41 |
Table 4: Status of complainants
|
|
Q1/2008 |
Q4/2007 |
Q3/2007 |
Q2/2007 |
Q1/2007 |
|
Debtors |
21 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
|
Family members/friends |
4 |
3 |
7 |
3 |
5 |
|
Referees |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Unrelated third parties |
5 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
6 |
|
Total |
30 |
21 |
25 |
26 |
31 |
