New Bank Notes to be Issued Next Year
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited and the Standard Chartered Bank will issue a new series of bank notes in 1993. The HSBC will issue HK$50 and HK$500 notes while the Standard Chartered will put out HK$10 and HK$100 notes. The remainder of the denominations will be issued over the next two or three years. Gone is the Royal Coat of Arms in the new bank notes. In its place will be the bauhinia on notes issued by Standard Chartered and a lion's head will appear on those issued by the Hongkong Bank.
BOC to Issue Bank Notes
The Bank of China (BOC) is to become Hong Kong's third note-issuing bank and will begin issuing its notes from May 1994. The BOC plans to issue some HK$6 billion (US$775 million) bank notes (about 10 per cent of the value of total notes in circulation), and to increase the amount gradually to about HK$10 billion (US$1.29 billion) by 1996. Although the design has yet to be approved by the government, the notes will be similar in size and colour to those of the two existing issuers.
Flat Sales Drop in 1992
There was a significant drop in the number of sale and purchase agreements of flats registered in the Land Office in 1992. 135,261 agreements were entered into, down some 23.5 per cent over 1991. The amount of money involved in the transactions rose by 13.1 per cent to HK£322.5 billion (US$41,66 billion). 117 building mortgages and 168,478 other mortgages were registered during 1992, compared with 156 and 213,081 respectively in 1991.
Telecommunications Authority to be Established
The government plans to establish a new department to deal with the increasing scope and complexity of telecommunications regulation. It will be known as the Office of the Telecommunications Authority. The regulator will be required to take on new powers in relation to network interconnection, telephone numbering and price control. The office is programmed to be established early in the second quarter of 1993.
CITIC's Acquisitions and Share Placements
CITIC Pacific has announced details of a complex record-breaking transaction involving several acquisitions and the placement of 551.8 million shares to raise HK$7,173 billion (US$926 million). The acquisitions involve 12 per cent of Hongkong Telecom and stakes in the new Tsing Yi Island chemical waste treatment plant and power companies in Jiangsu and Zhengzhou. On the completion of the transaction, CITIC Hongkong's holding in CITIC Pacific will rise from 43.3 per cent to 45.9 per cent and Kerry Trading's holding will slide 15.1 per cent to 13.5 per cent.
Japanese Bank Granted Licence
Another Japanese bank, the Daishi Bank Ltd., has been granted a banking licence to conduct business in Hong Kong. Daishi is the 54th largest bank in Japan and ranks 276th in the world in terms of capital.
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