Granting of restricted banking licence to Dexia Banque Internationale à Luxembourg

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced today (Wednesday) that the Monetary Authority has granted a restricted banking licence to Dexia Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (Dexia BIL) under the Banking Ordinance. This grant of restricted banking licence took effect on 11 February 2003.

Dexia BIL is incorporated in Luxembourg and has maintained a local representative office since 1994. According to The Banker, July 2002 issue, Dexia BIL ranked 1^st and 3^rd in Luxembourg in terms of total assets and tier-1 capital respectively.

After the granting of a restricted banking licence to Dexia BIL, the number of restricted licence banks in Hong Kong has increased to 46.

For further enquiries, please contact:

Sylvia Yip, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687 or
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
12 February 2003