***********************************
Following is a question by Dr the Hon Fernando Cheung and a written reply by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Frederick Ma, in the Legislative Council today (June 14):
Question:
Some residents have reflected to me that many banks closed their district branches in recent years, causing great inconvenience to the residents, especially the elderly and the disabled, of the districts concerned. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows the following information on the branches of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, Hang Seng Bank, the Bank of China (Hong Kong) and the Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited, which were closed in the past five years:
Name of Bank
District Address of Branch Date of Closure
-------- ----------------- ---------------
Central and
Western
Wanchai
Eastern
Southern
Yau Tsim Mong
Sham Shui Po
Kowloon City
Wong Tai Sin
Tsuen Wan
Kwun Tong
Tai Po
Yuen Long
Northern
Tuen Mun
Kwai Tsing
Sha Tin
Sai Kung
Islands
(b) whether it has requested the banks to assess, before closing their branches, the impact of such closure on the elderly and the disabled in the relevant districts; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c) whether it has taken measures to ensure that, after closure of those district branches, basic banking services are still available to the elderly and people with disabilities in the relevant districts; if it has, of the details of the measures; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) considers it inappropriate to provide the requested information which relates to the operation of individual authorised institutions. Nevertheless, it appends below a table (Table 1) showing the aggregate number of branches opened and closed by the four mentioned banks and other banks over the past five years. In addition, the HKMA will relay Dr the Hon Fernando Cheung's request for information to the relevant banks and will request them to consider providing the information to the Legislative Council directly.
(b) Whether to open or close a branch is a commercial decision for banks. The considerations they are likely to take into account include the needs of their customers, their business strategies, as well as the costs for maintaining the branch, which eventually will affect the cost of banking services provided to their customers. Under the Banking Ordinance, the HKMA is charged with the responsibility for promoting the general stability and effective working of the banking system. Other than for the purposes of prudential supervision, the HKMA does not have the authority, and indeed it considers it inappropriate, to set out specific parameters for banks to follow in making commercial decisions. Nonetheless, it generally encourages banks to take into account impact on their customers in closing branches and take steps to minimise any inconvenience caused to them. Such steps include, for example, installing ATMs as replacement and giving advance notice to customers before closing a branch.
(c) While banks operate according to commercial principles, we have been encouraging the banks to take into account corporate social responsibility in conducting their business and have due regard to the needs of the public. In this regard, we are aware that most retail banks in Hong Kong waive their charges for maintaining a bank account for social welfare recipients. Electronic banking services are economical and widely available. A major bank has also taken the initiative to provide more user-friendly ATM services for the elderly and others in need. For those elderly and disabled persons who are receiving welfare payments but have mobility problem and have no relatives or friends to collect payments for them from the banks, the Social Welfare Department will arrange special monthly cash delivery to these recipients.
The industry has been proactive in considering ways to minimise the impact of branch closures on the public. The Hong Kong Association of Banks has established a special task force to consider the issue and will discuss its findings with the Legislative Council Panel on Financial Affairs shortly.
Ends/Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Issued at HKT 12:15
NNNN
