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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
The Full Deposit Guarantee and the Contingent Bank Capital Facility (CBCF)provided by the Exchange Fund of the HKSAR Government will expire at the end of 2010 as originally scheduled.
The introduction of these two special measures were announced by the Financial Secretary on October 14, 2008. The Full Deposit Guarantee provides guarantee for all deposits held with authorised institutions (i.e. all licensed banks, restricted licence banks and deposit-taking companies). CBCF was established for the purpose of making available additional capital in case of need to locally incorporated licensed banks. The two contingency measures were introduced at the onset of the global financial crisis in late 2008 to reinforce confidence in Hong Kong's banking system. There has been no utilisation of the CBCF by the banks in Hong Kong since the establishment of the facility.
On expiry of the Full Deposit Guarantee, an enhanced Deposit Protection Scheme will come into effect on January 1, 2011, more details of which are provided in a separate press release.
Ends/Thursday, December 30, 2010
Issued at HKT 19:26
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