9 -
Kong's banking system (using data from Euromoney) suggested that for the period 1980-1986 Hong Kong ranked fourth in the world after London, New York and Paris in terms of the number of loan syndications organised; Tokyo was fifth and Singapore sixth (see Table E below). The lack of a maturity profile of the lending makes it impossible to tie up to the syndications data at all closely. For instance the growth of lending for both Hong Kong and Singapore could be related to short-term trade finance more than to long-term lending total trade (exports plus imports) in value terms in both countries has risen by around 3.5 fold over the last ten years (although of course this is slower than the growth of lending).
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Table E: Signing Centres for Syndicated Loans and Euronotes, 1980-1986
Source: Euromoney, July 1987
Centre
London
Number of signings
Value ($bn)
2616
221
New York
816
219
Paris
536
70
Hong Kong
665
36
Tokyo
328
27
Singapore
239
18
Frankfurt
204
16
2.11
National data sources in Hong Kong and Singapore provide some further insights. Unfortunately the data are not presented on a consistent basis and so cannot be readily compared. It should also be borne in mind that the banking definitions used for each country Licensed bank in Hong Kong and Asian Currency Units in Singapore reflect the bulk but not all cross-border banking activity. The data is summarised in Table F for Hong Kong and Table G for Singapore,
attached.
2.12 For Hong Kong banks, cross-border activity can be analysed by country and further by liability to foreigner and into claims against foreign banks and non-banks. This clearly shows that the bulk of
cross-border banking activity is inter-bank in nature and that the