Limited, but this was quickly dispelled by a joint announcement the following day by the Hang Seng Bank Limited and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation that the latter had acquired a controlling interest in the former, which had in consequence become its subsidiary.
6. Other events followed in swift succession. On 14th April, the Governor in Council, under powers contained in the Banking Ordinance 1964, directed the Financial Secretary to present a petition to the Supreme Court for the winding-up of The Canton Trust and Com- mercial Bank, Limited; and on 30th April the proprietor of the Ming Tak Bank was adjudged bankrupt, the Official Receiver, as is usual, being appointed trustee (see paragraph 115). The hearing of the petition for winding up The Canton Trust and Commercial Bank, Limited began at the Supreme Court on 8th May and attracted considerable public interest. On 12th May the winding-up order was duly made, and the Official Receiver was appointed Liquidator (see paragraphs 112-114).
7. Thereafter an uneasy calm descended upon the banking world, broken only by further rumours in November regarding the solvency of the Far East Bank Limited. These were, however, dispelled when the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation announced renewal of an earlier pledge of unconditional support for this Bank.
8. From April 1965 onwards banks generally put a tight rein on further lending, and credit remained difficult throughout the rest of the year. No further crises developed, and the confidence of bank customers slowly returned, so much so that as noted in paragraph 3 total deposits at the end of the year had in fact substantially increased. It is reported, however, that almost all the increase in deposits occurred in the second half of the year.
The Property Market
9. The Buildings (Amendment) (No. 2) Ordinance 1964, which empowers the Building Authority to prohibit building works that in his opinion cannot be undertaken without endangering the stability of other buildings in the vicinity and the implementation of which had such dramatic results in 1964-65, continued to affect re-development in many of the older parts of the Colony in 1965-66. The Working Party on Slum Clearance, however, of which the Registrar General was a member and which had been directed to give priority to examin- ing the effects of the new Ordinance and to make recommendations on the problems that had arisen, reported that it had been informed
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