Granting of banking licence to Citibank (Hong Kong) Limited

Press Releases

29 Oct 2004

Granting of banking licence to Citibank (Hong Kong) Limited

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced today that the Monetary Authority has granted a banking licence to Citibank (Hong Kong) Limited (CHKL) under the Banking Ordinance. This grant of banking licence took effect on 28 October 2004.

CHKL is incorporated in Hong Kong and was authorized as a restricted licence bank on 28 June 2004. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Citibank, N.A. ("Citibank") which is a bank incorporated in the United States and operates a branch in Hong Kong. According to The Bankers, July 2004 issue, Citigroup was the largest banking group in the world in terms of tier 1 capital.

According to its plan, Citibank will subsidiarise part of its Hong Kong operations. In this regard, Citibank will transfer the consumer banking business of its Hong Kong branch to CHKL by means of a Private Member's Bill. The grant of a banking licence to CHKL allows it to take up the consumer banking business.

With the granting of a banking licence to CHKL, the number of licensed banks in Hong Kong has increased to 134. Accordingly, the number of restricted licence banks has been reduced to 41.

For further enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin Fung, Manager (Press), at 2878 8246 or
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
29 October 2004

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Last revision date : 29 October 2004