Granting of restricted banking licence to Citibank International

A spokesman of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said today (23 April 1997) that Citibank International (CI) had been granted a restricted banking licence by the Monetary Authority under the Banking Ordinance on 18 April 1997.

CI is a wholly owned subsidiary of Citibank, N.A., one of the top five banks in the world and a significant participant in the Hong Kong market. CI is an "Edge Act" corporation supervised by the Federal Reserve Bank in the US. CI's business includes the provision of foreign trade finance to US residents and acceptance of deposits from non-US residents. Its head office is located in Miami and it has branches in Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The new branch in Hong Kong would take over the existing credit card business of Citibank's Hong Kong Branch.

After the grant of a restricted banking licence to CI, the number of restricted licence banks in Hong Kong has increased to 63.

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
23 April 1997