TNAG-2245-FCO40-3228-Bank-of-Credit-and-Commerce-Hong-Kong-Limited-(BCCHK)-1991 — Page 157

CONFIDENTIAL

thas (02/

1991

To HMT

19

173727

MDHIAN 8567

CONFIDENTIAL

FM HONG KONG

TO IMMEDIATE FCO

TELNO 2527

OF 120916Z AUGUST 91

AND TO IMMEDIATE HKGO LONDON

18

A

OUR TELNO 2510: BANK OF CREDIT AND COMMERCE HONG KONG LTD (BCCHK): LATEST DEVELOPMENTS.

1. UPON OUR CLARIFICATION THAT THE RUMOURS CONCERNING STANDARD CHARTERED BANK (SCB) WERE TOTALLY UNFOUNDED, WHICH WAS SUPPORTED BY A STATEMENT ISSUED BY SCB LONDON WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND AND LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, AND WITH THE ISSUE HERE OF BANK OF CHINA AND HONG KONG BANK'S JOINT STATEMENT OF SUPPORT (COPY AT MY FOLLOWING FAX), THE WITHDRAWAL PRESSURE ON SCB BEGAN TO SUBSIDE OVER THE WEEKEND. BY NOON TODAY, THE SITUATION HAS RETURNED TO NORMAL AND NO OTHER BANKS HAVE BEEN AFFECTED.

2. FURTHER EVIDENCE OF THE EXISTENCE OF AN ORCHESTRATED CAMPAIGN (SEE PARA 8 OF OUR TELNO 2315 REFERS) HAVE EMERGED AND THE ACTING GOVERNOR HAS NOW ASKED THE POLICE TO LOOK INTO THE MATTER.

FORD

YYYY

MAIN

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LIMITED

HKD

NEWS D

ADDITIONAL

HKGO LONDON

NNNN

1

DISTRIBUTION

27

PS/LORD CAITHNESS

MR BURNS

PAGE

1

CONFIDENTIAL