ICAC’s anti-graft work keeping Hong Kong corruption-free affirmed by advisory committees
2026-6-16
The four independent advisory committees overseeing different aspects of the work of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) affirmed the Commission’s professional and effective discharge of its statutory duties in 2025. The committees supported the ICAC to uphold a zero-tolerance attitude in the unwavering fight against corruption to safeguard integrity, justice and social stability in Hong Kong.
Dr Kelvin Wong Tin-yau, Acting Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Corruption cum Chairman of the Corruption Prevention Advisory Committee; the Hon Bernard Charnwut Chan, Chairman of the Operations Review Committee; and Professor Simon Ho Shun-man, Chairman of the Citizens Advisory Committee on Community Relations, hosted a press conference today (June 16) to report on the advisory committees’ oversight of the work of the ICAC in law enforcement, corruption prevention, education and international cooperation last year.
Overall corruption complaints in Hong Kong registered a year-on-year decrease last year, with declines recorded across complaints involving government departments, public bodies, and the private sector. Private sector complaints accounted for 70% of total corruption complaints, consistent with figures from previous years, while complaints involving government departments and public bodies took up 24% and 6% respectively.
Excluding election-related complaints, the ICAC received 1,780 corruption complaints in 2025, of which 1,449 were pursuable, representing a decrease of 14% and 11% respectively as compared to figures in 2024. Public trust and support for the ICAC remained strong as 71% of the overall corruption complaints were non-anonymous, meaning that complainants were willing to identify themselves when reporting corruption.
In the government sector, the civil service remained clean and honest. The ICAC acted swiftly and decisively against individual corrupt or improper conduct and maintained close collaboration with relevant government departments to ensure integrity among public officials. In the private sector, the industries attracting the most complaints were Building Management and Maintenance subsector, the Finance and Insurance subsector, and the Construction subsector.
The advisory committees noted that issues relating to building management and maintenance were closely linked to the public, with related complaints consistently accounting for approximately 25% of total corruption complaints in recent years. Following the Wang Fuk Court fire, public concern over building maintenance works surged, leading to a significant rise in related complaints. In the first four months of 2026, corruption complaints concerning major renovation projects increased by more than 1.5 times when compared to the same period in 2025.
Dr Wong Tin-yau said it was encouraging that members of the public actively participated in building management and maintenance affairs of their housing estates. By reporting suspected corruption, the public could help the ICAC to prevent corrupt individuals from interfering in such projects at an early stage. The committee would continue to closely monitor the ICAC’s anti-corruption efforts in building management and maintenance, and support its comprehensive strategy combining law enforcement, prevention, and education to combat corruption in the industry.
He further noted that the ICAC had cooperated fully with the work of the Independent Committee in relation to the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, submitting a detailed report analysing deep-seated structural issues in the building management and maintenance sector alongside the ICAC’s corresponding efforts. The advisory committees were confident that the ICAC would continue to provide full support and cooperation with government measures targeting corruption and bid-rigging risks in major renovation projects.
Echoing Dr Wong, the Hon Chan noted that the Operations Department maintained a dedicated team of over 50 investigators specifically tasked with combating corruption in the building management and maintenance sector. In response to the sharp increase in corruption complaints triggered by the Tai Po fire, the Operations Department reallocated internal resources to nearly double its manpower for handling such cases, addressing heightened public concern.
He added that over the past few years, the ICAC actively conducted multiple large-scale law enforcement operations cracking down on corrupt individuals in the industry, and widely publicised these real cases through the media to raise public awareness. The ICAC had also strengthened its “early intervention” strategy to prevent works contracts being awarded to criminals by promptly alerting property owners that their housing estates are possible targets of the corrupt.
The ICAC task force set up in response to the fire swiftly took law enforcement actions. Seven individuals and two companies, including the project consultant, the main contractor, and the Registered Inspector involved in the Wang Fuk Court major renovation project, were charged by the Commission with multiple counts of conspiracy to defraud, “money laundering”, attempting to pervert the course of justice, and tax evasion.
On the preventive front, the ICAC completed 67 assignment reports and provided corruption prevention advice for government departments and other organisations on over 1,500 occasions. Dr Wong noted that the ICAC adopted a “prevention-at-source” strategy and attached particular importance to areas of public concern and those involving people’s livelihood, providing corruption prevention advice to relevant bureaux/departments (B/Ds) and public bodies. Last year, the Commission provided advice to the Housing Bureau on “Basic Housing Units” and launched a “Corruption Prevention Guide on Admission of Students for Tertiary Education Institutions”. In addition, the ICAC enhanced corruption prevention effectiveness through digitalisation and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
The ICAC also partnered with regulators and professional bodies from different sectors to strengthen anti-corruption capabilities in the private sector. Initiatives included launching the “Sports Governance and Integrity Alliance” and “Banking Industry Integrity Charter”, and promulgating “Integrity Compliance Management System” to listed companies.
Following the Wang Fuk Court fire, the ICAC provided advice to relevant stakeholders, organisations and B/Ds with the aim of strengthening existing measures or introducing tailored corruption prevention mechanisms, and plugging corruption loopholes in various stages from tendering to works supervision.
On the education front, Professor Ho commended the ICAC for its continuing efforts in innovations to enhance the effectiveness of its integrity promotional and educational initiatives. For example, the ICAC has been cost-effectively using AI technology to produce popular short promotional videos. In addition, after opening Café “1974” in late 2024, the Commission revamped the ICAC Exhibition Hall in mid-2025 by incorporating a host of innovative technologies, and successfully attracted the general public and tourists to experience Hong Kong’s culture of integrity firsthand.
In June last year, the ICAC led the inaugural “Building Management Summit”, bringing together over 300 participants from relevant government departments, regulatory bodies, professional bodies, the 18 District Councils, Owners’ Corporations and property management companies, as well as property owners for exchanges and experience sharing. A practical guidebook “Building Maintenance Guide” was also launched alongside the event. The ICAC will further intensify efforts to engage communities, assisting building management personnel in understanding anti-corruption laws and identifying corruption risks, while raising property owners’ anti-corruption awareness.
On fostering international cooperation, the ICAC fully leveraged Hong Kong’s unique advantage under the “One Country, Two Systems”, aligning with national anti-corruption initiatives in the 15th Five-Year Plan to share the city’s graft-fighting experience with the international community. Last year, delegations led by the Commissioner visited countries in the Middle East and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), while high-level delegations from over 10 countries visited the ICAC.
During the year, the Commission also entered Memoranda of Understanding with three overseas anti-corruption agencies, and effectively explored diverse modes of collaboration. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong International Academy Against Corruption organised a total of 20 international capacity building programmes for the anti-corruption agencies of the countries across the Belt and Road Initiative, ASEAN, the Middle East, Africa and South America, attracting about 1,800 participants.
Hong Kong continued to be rated as one of the world’s cleanest regions by various international ranking institutions. In the “2025 Corruption Perceptions Index” released by Transparency International, Hong Kong ranked 12th among 182 countries/territories, rising five places from 2024 and recording one of the largest increases since the index was first published in 1995, placing second in Asia.
Dr Kelvin Wong Tin-yau, Acting Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Corruption cum Chairman of the Corruption Prevention Advisory Committee; the Hon Bernard Charnwut Chan, Chairman of the Operations Review Committee; and Professor Simon Ho Shun-man, Chairman of the Citizens Advisory Committee on Community Relations, hosted a press conference today (June 16) to report on the advisory committees’ oversight of the work of the ICAC in law enforcement, corruption prevention, education and international cooperation last year.
Overall corruption complaints in Hong Kong registered a year-on-year decrease last year, with declines recorded across complaints involving government departments, public bodies, and the private sector. Private sector complaints accounted for 70% of total corruption complaints, consistent with figures from previous years, while complaints involving government departments and public bodies took up 24% and 6% respectively.
Excluding election-related complaints, the ICAC received 1,780 corruption complaints in 2025, of which 1,449 were pursuable, representing a decrease of 14% and 11% respectively as compared to figures in 2024. Public trust and support for the ICAC remained strong as 71% of the overall corruption complaints were non-anonymous, meaning that complainants were willing to identify themselves when reporting corruption.
In the government sector, the civil service remained clean and honest. The ICAC acted swiftly and decisively against individual corrupt or improper conduct and maintained close collaboration with relevant government departments to ensure integrity among public officials. In the private sector, the industries attracting the most complaints were Building Management and Maintenance subsector, the Finance and Insurance subsector, and the Construction subsector.
The advisory committees noted that issues relating to building management and maintenance were closely linked to the public, with related complaints consistently accounting for approximately 25% of total corruption complaints in recent years. Following the Wang Fuk Court fire, public concern over building maintenance works surged, leading to a significant rise in related complaints. In the first four months of 2026, corruption complaints concerning major renovation projects increased by more than 1.5 times when compared to the same period in 2025.
Dr Wong Tin-yau said it was encouraging that members of the public actively participated in building management and maintenance affairs of their housing estates. By reporting suspected corruption, the public could help the ICAC to prevent corrupt individuals from interfering in such projects at an early stage. The committee would continue to closely monitor the ICAC’s anti-corruption efforts in building management and maintenance, and support its comprehensive strategy combining law enforcement, prevention, and education to combat corruption in the industry.
He further noted that the ICAC had cooperated fully with the work of the Independent Committee in relation to the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, submitting a detailed report analysing deep-seated structural issues in the building management and maintenance sector alongside the ICAC’s corresponding efforts. The advisory committees were confident that the ICAC would continue to provide full support and cooperation with government measures targeting corruption and bid-rigging risks in major renovation projects.
Echoing Dr Wong, the Hon Chan noted that the Operations Department maintained a dedicated team of over 50 investigators specifically tasked with combating corruption in the building management and maintenance sector. In response to the sharp increase in corruption complaints triggered by the Tai Po fire, the Operations Department reallocated internal resources to nearly double its manpower for handling such cases, addressing heightened public concern.
He added that over the past few years, the ICAC actively conducted multiple large-scale law enforcement operations cracking down on corrupt individuals in the industry, and widely publicised these real cases through the media to raise public awareness. The ICAC had also strengthened its “early intervention” strategy to prevent works contracts being awarded to criminals by promptly alerting property owners that their housing estates are possible targets of the corrupt.
The ICAC task force set up in response to the fire swiftly took law enforcement actions. Seven individuals and two companies, including the project consultant, the main contractor, and the Registered Inspector involved in the Wang Fuk Court major renovation project, were charged by the Commission with multiple counts of conspiracy to defraud, “money laundering”, attempting to pervert the course of justice, and tax evasion.
On the preventive front, the ICAC completed 67 assignment reports and provided corruption prevention advice for government departments and other organisations on over 1,500 occasions. Dr Wong noted that the ICAC adopted a “prevention-at-source” strategy and attached particular importance to areas of public concern and those involving people’s livelihood, providing corruption prevention advice to relevant bureaux/departments (B/Ds) and public bodies. Last year, the Commission provided advice to the Housing Bureau on “Basic Housing Units” and launched a “Corruption Prevention Guide on Admission of Students for Tertiary Education Institutions”. In addition, the ICAC enhanced corruption prevention effectiveness through digitalisation and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
The ICAC also partnered with regulators and professional bodies from different sectors to strengthen anti-corruption capabilities in the private sector. Initiatives included launching the “Sports Governance and Integrity Alliance” and “Banking Industry Integrity Charter”, and promulgating “Integrity Compliance Management System” to listed companies.
Following the Wang Fuk Court fire, the ICAC provided advice to relevant stakeholders, organisations and B/Ds with the aim of strengthening existing measures or introducing tailored corruption prevention mechanisms, and plugging corruption loopholes in various stages from tendering to works supervision.
On the education front, Professor Ho commended the ICAC for its continuing efforts in innovations to enhance the effectiveness of its integrity promotional and educational initiatives. For example, the ICAC has been cost-effectively using AI technology to produce popular short promotional videos. In addition, after opening Café “1974” in late 2024, the Commission revamped the ICAC Exhibition Hall in mid-2025 by incorporating a host of innovative technologies, and successfully attracted the general public and tourists to experience Hong Kong’s culture of integrity firsthand.
In June last year, the ICAC led the inaugural “Building Management Summit”, bringing together over 300 participants from relevant government departments, regulatory bodies, professional bodies, the 18 District Councils, Owners’ Corporations and property management companies, as well as property owners for exchanges and experience sharing. A practical guidebook “Building Maintenance Guide” was also launched alongside the event. The ICAC will further intensify efforts to engage communities, assisting building management personnel in understanding anti-corruption laws and identifying corruption risks, while raising property owners’ anti-corruption awareness.
On fostering international cooperation, the ICAC fully leveraged Hong Kong’s unique advantage under the “One Country, Two Systems”, aligning with national anti-corruption initiatives in the 15th Five-Year Plan to share the city’s graft-fighting experience with the international community. Last year, delegations led by the Commissioner visited countries in the Middle East and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), while high-level delegations from over 10 countries visited the ICAC.
During the year, the Commission also entered Memoranda of Understanding with three overseas anti-corruption agencies, and effectively explored diverse modes of collaboration. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong International Academy Against Corruption organised a total of 20 international capacity building programmes for the anti-corruption agencies of the countries across the Belt and Road Initiative, ASEAN, the Middle East, Africa and South America, attracting about 1,800 participants.
Hong Kong continued to be rated as one of the world’s cleanest regions by various international ranking institutions. In the “2025 Corruption Perceptions Index” released by Transparency International, Hong Kong ranked 12th among 182 countries/territories, rising five places from 2024 and recording one of the largest increases since the index was first published in 1995, placing second in Asia.
