Granting of banking licence to SOCIETE GENERALE BANK & TRUST

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced today that the Monetary Authority has granted a banking licence to SOCIETE GENERALE BANK & TRUST (SGBT) under the Banking Ordinance. The granting of this banking licence took effect on 24 May 2006.

SGBT is incorporated in Luxembourg and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Societe Generale. According to the July 2005 issue of The Bankers, SGBT was the 4^th largest bank in Luxembourg in terms of tier 1 capital.

After the granting of a banking licence to SGBT, the number of licensed banks in Hong Kong has increased to 134.

For further enquiries, please contact:
Ying-ying Cheng, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687 or
Hing-Fung Wong, Resource Co-ordinator, at 2878 1802

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
25 May 2006