33.
On 7th March, 1986, the Banking Bill was
published and after completing a detailed
examination by a committee of the Legislative
Council it passed through all its stages and became
the Banking Ordinance, 1986, by the end of May. The Ordinance became effective from 1st September, other
than Part XVII (the capital adequacy ratio, for which a grace period of 2 years has been set for its
introduction).
The Bill was considered at 8
separate meetings of the Banking Advisory Committee
and the Deposit-taking Companies Advisory Committee.
It was
was also considered by the Hong Kong Society of
Accountants, the Hong Kong Association of Banks and
the Deposit-taking Companies Association together
with a
great deal of consultation with individual
financial and legal institutions. As a result of
the consultation, extensive amendments were made to
the Bill at the Committee stage. Media interest was
high and good publicity was obtained from a variety
of seminars and other discussions. Mainly as a
result of this detailed consultation, the intent and
most of the detail of the legislation were well
received.
34.
While the legislation was being enacted, a
new statistical return was designed, again with
consultation with the authorised institutions. This
return meets the requirements of the new
new Ordinance
and also gives a clearer operational picture of the reporting institution. New computer programmes have
also been designed for the information now received.
18