Granting of banking licence to FIMAT INTERNATIONAL BANQUE SA

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced today (Friday) that the Monetary Authority has granted a banking licence to FIMAT INTERNATIONAL BANQUE SA (FIB) under the Banking Ordinance. The granting of this banking licence took effect on 28 September 2006.

FIB was incorporated in France. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Societe Generale. According to July 2006 issue of The Banker, Societe Generale was the 26^th largest bank in the world in terms of tier 1 capital.

After the granting of a banking licence to FIB, the number of licensed banks in Hong Kong has increased to 137.

For further enquiries, please contact:
Ying-ying Cheng, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687 or
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
29 September 2006