Granting of banking licence to SOCIETE GENERALE BANK & TRUST
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    The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced today that the Monetary Authority has granted a banking licence to SOCIETE GENERALE BANK & TRUST (SGBT) under the Banking Ordinance.  The granting of this banking licence took effect on May 24, 2006.

     SGBT is incorporated in Luxembourg and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Societe Generale. According to the July 2005 issue of The Bankers, SGBT was the 4th largest bank in Luxembourg in terms of tier 1 capital.

     After the granting of a banking licence to SGBT, the number of licensed banks in Hong Kong has increased to 134.


     For further enquiries, please contact:
Ying-ying Cheng, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687 or
Hing-Fung Wong, Resource Co-ordinator, at 2878 1802

Ends/Thursday, May 25, 2006
Issued at HKT 16:32

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