Granting of banking licence to NATIONAL BANK OF ABU DHABI

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced today (Wednesday) that the Monetary Authority has granted a banking licence to NATIONAL BANK OF ABU DHABI (NBAD) under the Banking Ordinance. The granting of this banking licence took effect on 19 May 2009.

NBAD is incorporated in Abu Dhabi. According to the July 2008 issue of The Banker, NBAD is the 2^nd largest bank in the United Arab Emirates and the 207^th largest bank in the world in terms of tier-1 capital.

After the granting of a banking licence to NBAD, the number of licensed banks in Hong Kong has increased to 144.

For further enquiries, please contact:
Thomas Chan, Communications Chief, at 2878 1480 or
Hing-fung Wong, Manager (Communications), at 2878 1802

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
20 May 2009