23. Residual Provident Fund Scheme
(1) The Authority shall, prior to the commencement of any of the provisions of section 7, take all necessary steps to cause to be established a registered scheme (being a master trust scheme), to be known as the “Residual Provident Fund Scheme”, for the principal purpose referred to in subsection (2) and shall authorize a corporate trustee to be the approved trustee thereof.
(2) The principal purpose of the Residual Provident Fund Scheme established under subsection (1) is to provide, as a last resort only, membership of that Scheme to a relevant employee of an employer, or to a self-employed person where that employer or self-employed person, as the case may be—
- (a) (i) in the case of the employer, declares in writing to the Authority that he has not, through his own efforts or otherwise, been able to comply with the requirements of section 7(1); or
- (ii) in the case of the self-employed person, declares in writing to the Authority that he has not, through his own efforts or otherwise, been able to become a member of a registered scheme as required under section 7(4);
- (b) authorizes the Authority to assist him in obtaining access to a registered scheme for the purpose of compliance with the requirements referred to in paragraph (a), as applicable; provides to the Authority all information and assistance as may reasonably be required by the Authority for that purpose, and
- (c) in respect of that employer or self-employed person, as the case may be, the Authority has not succeeded in obtaining access to a registered scheme which would otherwise enable compliance with the requirements referred to in paragraph (a).
(3) If, in the opinion of the Authority, it is desirable to do so, the Authority may authorize the Residual Provident Fund Scheme to have the following additional purposes—
- (a) to facilitate portability or transferability of accrued benefits to, from or between registered schemes;
- (b) to provide for any unclaimed accrued benefits; and
- (c) to achieve any other purposes of this Ordinance.
(4) The Authority may make rules under section 47 for the purpose of this section for the efficient and effectual operation of the Residual Provident Fund Scheme.
(5) In this section “employer” (僱主) includes a prospective employer, and “self-employed person” (自僱人士) includes a prospective self-employed person.
