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from controls and a growing concentration of financial
expertise within the colony. At end-1981, 89 foreign
banks had branches in Hong Kong and a further 121
representative offices.
Hong Kong is now a significant
international financial centre, with a leading position in
loan syndication for Asian borrowers:
the financial
sector's overseas earnings make a significant contribution
to the colony's surplus on invisible trade.
8.
The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC)
operates the clearing for inter-bank settlement and the
other banks maintain clearing balances with it. Two banks,
namely the Chartered Bank and the Bank of China, are
sub-clearers for 19 and 12 other banks respectively.
1964 the HSBC and the Chartered Bank, at the Hong Kong
Government's request, provided funds to avert a liquidity
crisis in the banking system. This was the only occasion
In
in which there has been a liquidity crisis and only 3 small
were
banks were involved.
Funds were subsequently provided by
the Government to meet net creditors' claims. HSBC is
the main banker to the Government (including of course the
Exchange Fund) and because of its own position at the
centre of the clearing system and its role as
issuing bank, HSBC is itself highly unlikely to come under
purely domestic pressure with respect to its overall
liquidity. Should it face difficulties, however, it would
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