1979-07-06 — Page 40

There have been three developments of particular interest to the financial community during the past twelve months.

First, legislation providing for a system of prudential supervision of registered deposit-taking companies along the lines of that applied d to banks came into effect in November 1978. However, the provision.requiring deposit-taking companies to maintain minimum holdings of specified liquid assets, has not yet been implemented, but preliminary proposals have now. been drawn up. and l expect that deposit- taking companies will be required to comply with certain requirements by the end of this year.

equirements by the end of this y

Secondly, the moratorium on banking licences was eased in March 1978 and since then 34 banking- licences have been granted. This means that 108 banks are now. licensed to operate in Hong Kong. The new banks that have been granted licences include some of the largest in the world and all of them are ranked among the top 300. Their Hong Kong offices are branches of banks incorporated.in Britain, Canada, France, Germany, India, Japan, Switzerland and the USA. Their arrival has substantially enhanced Hong Kong's position as a leading international financial centre.

Apart from the direct benefits that stem from the presence in Hong Kong of these banks, there are a number of side benefits. For example, they provide additional important channels for the dissemination: of information about Hong Kong. This should lead to a greater awareness of Hong Kong, and of what it but also in many other is able to offer the world, not only with regard to financial and banking services, spheres of economic activity. I am thinking particularly of Hong Kong's position as a leading (and successful) exporter of light manufactured products. Another area in which the arrival of these banks will benefit the people of Hong Kong is from the additional employment opportunities that will be created, not only in the financial sector, but also in such fields as communications and computer technology, legal. and accountancy services, and printing, to mention but a few of the more obvious. It is true there is now more competition for bank staff but, as against this, the new banks have brought to Hong Kong a number of expatriate staff with knowledge in various specialised fields. The introduction of this know-how will enhance employment opportunities generally.

"It is to the great credit of the financial sector that the arrival of these new banks has been generally welcomed. Institutions already established here are prepared to accept the increased competition involved for our financial markets are widening and diversifying.

further evidence of the ability of the Hong

Kong business community to take a broad and long term view; to meet new challenges and to seek ways to profit from them. It is also a. practical expression of their faith in the free enterprise, market-oriented would system which the Government has consistently sought to nurture in Hong Kong. The Government add, intends to persevere in this endeavour and to ensure that the business community is as free to lose money as to make it.

Thirdly, I should refer to recent developments in the field of what is, for want of a better phrase, described as monetary policy. We have taken steps to limit the credit creation potential inherent in the Government's growing Hong Kong dollar. balances held with certain banks in Hong Kong through the Exchange Fund. And we now have the power to alter, for the purposes of monetary policy, the minimum liquidity ratios which have to be observed by all banks (and, later on, we shall have the power to do the same for deposit-taking companies).

Ce: Jhave not yet used the power which is already available to me in relation to the banks, and I hope 1. do not have to do so, "but we cannot escape the implications of the decision to float the Hong Kong dollar in November 1974. That decision was inescapable, but the domestic sector of our economy was thereby released from the automatic discipline of movements in the net external balance. So the Government has had to assume a.more direct stance in relation to movements in the main monetary aggregates.

28th June 1979.

C

(C.P. Haddon-Cave)

港分印事們照間四於若期成低行

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有利財經界的三項發展

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