intervention.
authority to exercise his powers of
That is why
those powers
have been given by
by the
legislature. Last week we witnessed the exercise of
those powers in relation to the Hong Nin Bank. I
shall not attempt this evening to describe all the
matters that we took into account. We have had some
stick, but by and large the market has understood why
we took action. It was not very dramatic, no more
than that taken earlier with another bank, now in the
hands of new owners and at no cost to the public
purse. My task is to ensure that proper action is
taken in that timely manner that I have mentioned,
and, of course, to ensure as
1
far as I can that the
stability of the banking sector, and indeed of the
community, is not endangered.
8.
Banking is, of course, one of the most
rapidly changing sectors in the developed economies
the world over. Hong Kong is no exception, witnessing
as it has contests between black horses and white
knights. Changes are occurring in terms of products,
customers and competitors, and in terms of the degree
of interdependence of financial markets in different
The interdependence of the various
countries.
financial
services is
speed at
which this
also increasing, although the
happening in Hong Kong is
/probably