Hong Kong's corruption situation is under effective control, with the number of corruption complaints from January to October at 2,749, down 9% on the same month last year, Advisory Committee on Corruption Chairman Raymond Ch'ien says.

Non-anonymous corruption complaints accounted for 73% of the total, while the overall conviction rate of Independent Commission Against Corruption cases was 89%.

Of the 2,749 corruption reports, 61% concerned the private sector, 32% were against government departments and 7% were related to public bodies. While corruption reports concerning government departments registered a 10% fall, indebtedness, gambling and misuse of authority involving some public officers were areas of concern. Complaints against law enforcement departments fell 14% to 384.

In the private sector, building management complaints remained high at 669, accounting for 40% of the private sector total. This was followed by the finance and insurance sector, attracting 142 reports.

On the 207 defendants in prosecutions in relation to the private sector completed during the year, 141 people or 68.1% were senior executives, directors, company chairmen and professional advisers.

The commission will launch a corruption prevention tool kit for the banking and finance sectors later this month. It has also joined hands with the Civil Service Bureau to introduce ethics officers in government departments to help promote an ethical culture.