Hong Kong Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority updates consultation on MPF full portability to enable annual transfer of employer contributions

The Hong Kong Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) published a blog post by its Chairman, Mrs Ayesha Macpherson Lau, updating stakeholders on the consultation on MPF full portability launched on 28 March. The proposals would expand portability during current employment from covering only employee mandatory contributions to covering all mandatory contributions, including employer mandatory contributions, increasing the transferable share of vested MPF benefits from over 70% to nearly 100%. The update situates full portability as an extension of the Employee Choice Arrangement ("semi-portability") introduced in 2012, under which employees can transfer their employee mandatory contributions once a year. Over 2020–2024, an average of HKD 4.8 billion a year was transferred via semi-portability, up 27% from the 2015–2019 average of HKD 3.8 billion, and cumulative transfers exceeded 1 million as of March 2025, involving over HKD 50 billion. Under the full portability proposals, both existing employees who started work before the MPF offsetting arrangement is abolished on 1 May 2025 and new employees or job-switchers who start after that date would be able to transfer the full amount of their employer mandatory contributions once a year to a new “designated ERMC Account” or to a personal account within an MPF scheme of their choice. The MPFA noted consultation feedback recognising that the consultation paper’s two proposals would meet employee expectations for greater autonomy, while also calling for further explanation of operational details ahead of implementation. Stakeholders were invited to submit views via the MPFA website.