Upgrading of Industrial Bank of Korea to a licensed bank

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced today (Thursday) that the Monetary Authority has upgraded Industrial Bank of Korea's (IBK) restricted banking licence to a banking licence under the Banking Ordinance. The upgrade took effect on 14 May 2008.

IBK is incorporated in Korea and has operated a branch in Hong Kong under a restricted banking licence since November 1993. According to the July 2007 issue of The Banker, IBK is the 6th largest bank in the Korea and the 136 largest bank in the world in terms of total assets.

After the upgrade of IBK, the number of licensed banks in Hong Kong has increased to 144.

For further enquiries, please contact:
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480 or
Peggy Lo, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
15 May 2008