Banking (Amendment) Bill 2001

The Banking (Amendment) Bill 2001 (the Bill) is published in the Government Gazette today (Friday). It will be introduced into the Legislative Council on 4 April 2001.

The Bill seeks to amend the Banking Ordinance (the Ordinance) to keep the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's (HKMA) supervisory regime abreast of developments in the industry, in particular those relating to electronic banking. It also contains proposals to enhance the operation of individual provisions of the Ordinance in the light of experience.

The main amendments introduced by the Bill include provisions that:

1. enhance the Monetary Authority's oversight of places of business of authorized institutions (AIs);
2. strengthen the provisions relating to advertisements for deposits posted on the Internet or disseminated through other new technological means;
3. update the definition of "manager", which is the term used to refer to senior executives of AIs in the Ordinance; and
4. introduce requirements for AIs to notify the Monetary Authority of the appointment of managers and to maintain adequate systems of control to ensure that such managers are fit and proper.

Mr David Carse, Deputy Chief Executive of the HKMA, said, "The provisions in the new Banking Amendment Bill should help to enhance the supervisory framework for banking in Hong Kong. They have been the subject of full consultation with the industry. In particular, the provisions relating to managers (i.e. senior executives) of AIs reflect the industry's view that the primary responsibility for ensuring that such persons are fit and proper should rest with the AIs themselves. The proposed legislation reinforces this by making adequate systems of control for the appointment of managers one of the criteria for authorization."

The HKMA will issue a guideline to set out its view of what constitutes adequate systems of control in this context.

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

23 March 2001

The Banking (Amendment) Bill 2001 was published in the Gazette on 23 March 2001. Click here to see a copy.