The Banking (Disclosure) (Amendment) Rules 2016 and the Banking (Specification of Class of Exempted Charges) (Amendment) Notice 2016 (the Amendment Notice) were gazetted today (December 30) to implement, or facilitate the implementation of, recent international standards for banking regulation in Hong Kong.

     The Rules seek to enhance the regulatory disclosure made by authorised institutions in terms of its comprehensiveness, user-relevance and comparability (both between institutions and across jurisdictions), and require disclosure of certain key regulatory metrics on a quarterly basis.

     The Amendment Notice provides a degree of exemption from existing limitations imposed under the Banking Ordinance (Cap. 155) on the creation of charges by authorised institutions in order to facilitate the implementation of the latest international standards on exchange of margin and risk mitigation for over-the-counter derivative transactions.

     A spokesman for the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau said, "As an international banking and financial centre, Hong Kong supports the ongoing implementation of the latest international regulatory standards to enhance the stability and soundness of the financial system. The legislative amendments will enable our regulatory framework to keep pace with international standards."

     A spokesman for the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said, "We consulted the banking industry in the course of formulating the Rules and the Amendment Notice. The two instruments should, respectively, promote market discipline in the banking sector with enhanced regulatory disclosure, and facilitate authorised institutions' implementation of the latest margin and risk mitigation standards."

     The Rules and the Amendment Notice will be tabled before the Legislative Council at its sitting on January 11, 2017 (Wednesday) for negative vetting. The Rules and the Amendment Notice will come into operation on March 31, 2017 and March 3, 2017 respectively.

Ends/Friday, December 30, 2016
Issued at HKT 12:00

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