Debt collectors

Complaints against debt collection agencies hired by banks are dropping.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority received only 165 complaints in the first nine months of the year, compared to 282 between April and December last year.

Most complaints cited nuisance cases; others involved intimidation and violence.

Police also recorded a decrease in the number of illegal money-lending cases, down from 181 in 1995 to 85 last year. There were 38 cases reported in the first three quarters of this year.