Manulife and Sun Life testify before Canadian Parliament on withholding C$2 billion in MPF retirement savings

Today, Manulife and Sun Life testified before the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration of the Canadian House of Commons on the withholding of C$2 billion worth of Hong Kongers’ Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) retirement savings. Business executives from Canada-based MPF trustees also testified, including Maryscott Greenwood, Manulife’s Global Head of Government Relations for Canada and Laura Hewitt, Sun Life’s Head of Global Government Affairs and Public Policy.

The MPF is a compulsory retirement savings scheme for the people of Hong Kong. Hong Kongers can ordinarily withdraw their entire MPF early if they make a statutory declaration that they have departed Hong Kong permanently with no intention of returning to resettle. However, the Mandatory Provident Fund Authority (MPFA), which oversees the provision of MPF schemes, released a statement in March 2021 saying that because the British National (Overseas) (BNO) passport was no longer recognised by the Hong Kong government as a valid travel document and proof of identity as of January 2021, those trying to withdraw their MPF early cannot rely on the BNO passport or visa as evidence to an application for early MPF withdrawal. 

Specifically, this has led to Manulife and Sun Life denying Hong Kongers access to an estimated C$2 billion of their MPF, despite having a legal obligation to release the savings to beneficiaries who can provide evidence of their right to reside in a foreign country under the MPF trust deed.

During the hearing, both Manulife and Sun Life confirmed that they would decline the request for early MPF withdrawal if a Hong Konger applies solely with their BNO passport, but that they would welcome Hong Kongers to apply once they obtain Permanent Residency (PR) or citizenship. This is not consistent with cases we have seen, in which even Hong Kongers with PR were denied.

In addition, Maryscott Greenwood of Manulife said, “If there is a Canadian Permanent Residency card with ‘GBN’ designation, that would not be a reason we decline”. However, Ms Greenwood revealed that the MPFA of Hong Kong checks the applications once processed by each MPF trustee, and that the MPFA would decline on this basis as they do not recognise the BNO passport as evidence of permanent residence.

Throughout the hearing, both Manulife and Sun Life provided statistics on how many applications their companies or the MPFA have denied. This includes Manulife denying 1,087 early withdrawal applications due to not meeting the criteria, and Sun Life denying 352 applications, with an additional 172 applications being approved by Sun Life but denied by the MPFA.

This hearing follows a hearing in June 2024 in which Hong Kong Watch, Manulife and Sun Life testified before the same Committee on the withholding of Hong Kongers’ MPF.

We would like to thank Hong Kong Watch Patron Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe MP, Greg McLean MP, Tom Kmiec MP, Jenny Kwan MP, and Arielle Kayabaga MP for participating in this important hearing. Hong Kong Watch will continue to campaign for the release of Hong Kongers’ hard-earned MPF savings as we seek to combat this financial repression against the Hong Kong community in Canada and around the world.

Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe MP, Vice-Chair of the Immigration Committee and Patron of Hong Kong Watch, said to the Manulife and Sun Life representatives:

“Do you realize that your company is involuntarily being used for transnational repression purposes, because the government in Hong Kong has decided not to recognize BNO?... What is happening is that you are being used, through legislation from an authoritarian regime and government, to crack down on opponents of the government in Hong Kong who have left and are now in Canada or the UK… I am telling you that you need to look into the situation and be aware that you are being used by a government to engage in transnational repression because Hong Kong no longer recognizes the BNO. I am not blaming you but I am simply asking you to recognize that fact.” 

宏利、永明高層出席加拿大國會聽證會 就港人被扣押20億加元MPF作供

今天，加拿大強積金（MPF）受託人宏利（Manulife）和永明金融（Sun Life）的企業高層出席加拿大眾議院公民及移民常務委員會聽證會，就香港人被扣押總值20億加元的MPF退休儲蓄事宜作供。兩家公司的代表分別為宏利加拿大政府關係環球主管Maryscott Greenwood，以及永明金融環球政府事務及公共政策主管Laura Hewitt。

在聽證會上，宏利和永明金融均確認，如果香港人僅憑BNO護照申請提早取回MPF，他們會拒絕有關要求，但歡迎港人在獲得永久居民身分或公民身分後申請。這個說法與我們見過的個案並不吻合，當中連已獲得永居的港人都被拒絕。

另外，宏利代表Maryscott Greenwood表示：「如果有一張指稱為『GBN』的加拿大永久居民卡，那不會是我們拒絕申請的理由」。不過，她透露，香港積金局會查核每位MPF受託人處理過的申請，又會據此拒絕有關申請，因他們不承認BNO護照為永居證明。

聽證會期間，宏利和永明金融分別提供了其公司或積金局拒絕了多少份申請的統計數字。當中包括宏利因不符合標準而拒絕了1,087份提早提款申請，永明金融則拒絕了352份申請，另有172份申請已獲永明金融批准，但被積金局拒絕。

這場聽證會承接2024年6月移民委員會召開的聽證會，當時香港監察、宏利和永明金融同就港人被扣押MPF作供。

香港監察謹感謝香港監察贊助人Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe MP、Greg McLean MP、Tom Kmiec MP、Jenny Kwan MP和Arielle Kayabaga MP參與這場重要的聽證會。香港監察會繼續倡議爭取釋放香港人的血汗MPF儲蓄，致力對抗這種針對加拿大以至世界各地香港社群的金融打壓。

移民委員會副主席、香港監察贊助人Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe MP向宏利和永明金融的代表表示：

「你知不知道因為香港政府決定不承認BNO，你的公司不自覺地被用來施行跨國鎮壓？……現正發生的事情是你被人利用，透過威權和政府的立法，打壓反對香港政府的港人，他們已經離開，現居加拿大或英國……我告訴你，你需要調查清楚情況，同時要知道因為香港不再承認BNO，你正被政府利用施行跨國鎮壓。我不是怪你，只是要求你承認這個事實。」