Investing as a Hong Kong Investor

If you are a Hong Kong citizen – and you do not have an ITIN – we will require additional information in order to process your investments.

Please note that credit cards are often declined for Hong Kong investors. For this reason, we strongly recommend sending all funds by wire transfer only.

TIN for Hong Kong Investors

Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department (the IRD) does not issue TIN for communication with the taxpayer. To align with international practices, the IRD uses Hong Kong Identity (HKID) numbers and business registration numbers for that purposes.

For individuals, the Hong Kong Identity Card (HKID) number is issued by the Immigration Department under the Registration of Persons Ordinance.

Because HKDID use letters, they cannot be inputted into the Equifund platform. Please use 000-00-0000 for all fields requesting a social security number.

For business entities, the Business Registration (BR) number is an 8-digit issued by the Inland Revenue Department under the Business Registration Ordinance. [source]

Please use 000-00-0000 for all fields requesting an EIN or other entity tax identification number.

Investing with Retirement Accounts for Hong Kong Investors

The Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) is an automatic retirement plan that employed people can opt-in for. The Employee Choice Arrangement (ECA) allows participants to move their benefits to a different scheme once per year so they can maximize growth. [source]

However, we have not seen any evidence that these funds can be invested in the private investment opportunities listed on Equifund.

AML/KYC For Hong Kong Investors

As a reminder, all non-US investors are required to submit additional documentation for identify verification.

In order to expedite the AML/KYC check, please upload the following documents to your account prior to making an investment, or immediately after doing so:

• A valid government-issued identification: state-issued identification card, driver's license, or federally-issued passport are accepted. Military IDs are not accepted.

• Proof of address (in English): Must be a utility bill, bank statement, or letter from a government agency, dated within the last 90 days.

Please be advised. That all proof of address documentation must be in English. For investors whose native language is not English, they may request an official translation of any accepted document, or otherwise request an “address verification” document from a financial institution in English.

The easiest way to get this done is to ask your bank for a document, on letterhead, stating something to the effect of "We certify that [Name of Investor] lives at [Address]"

Please be advised that we cannot legally process your transaction without these documents.

For more information on our AML/KYC policies – along with a step-by-step walkthrough on how to upload your documents – please refer to our knowledge base.