The Hong Kong Federation of Students announced an emergency dissolution on Wednesday, citing the 67-year-old organization can no longer ensure proper oversight over its funds after the arrest of two members of the Lingnan University Students’ Union.
In a statement after an emergency general meeting, the federation, consisting of the students’ unions of the Chinese University, Lingnan University, Shue Yan University and University of Science and Technology, said it has decided to apply to the Police Licensing Office to deregister the federation as a society.
The federation said that on June 4, four members of the Lingnan University Students’ Union were arrested by law enforcement on suspicion of theft and conspiracy to commit theft, and two of them attempted to gain control of the federation’s funds two years ago.
“Records showed that two of them filed an application to the law enforcement’s licensing office, without the federation’s approval, to change the federation’s registered person in charge on September 11, 2023,” the statement read.
At the same time, they also altered the signatory authority for all of the federation’s bank accounts, gaining full access to the organization’s funds, the federation added.
“Since the two of them were arrested, and the bank has yet to revoke them as the federation’s authorized signatories, the federation can no longer ensure proper oversight of its fund, and therefore came to the conclusion of an emergency dissolution,” it said.
The federation also said that all remaining funds in its bank accounts will be unconditionally donated to the Hong Kong Community Chest.
