18 September 2001

The Chief Executive|
All authorized institutions

Dear Sir/Madam,

There has been some media speculation that Osama bin Laden and his associates may maintain bank deposits in Hong Kong as well as in other financial centres.

The HKMA wishes to stress that it has no information or evidence that deposits related to bin Laden are held here. If such deposits were to be held in Hong Kong, it is likely they would be in the names of shell corporations or nominee names. If so, detection would not be straightforward. There is a certain amount of information in the public domain about companies that may be related to the bin Laden "group" (see for example an article on page 6 of the Financial Times of 17 September 2001). But at this point in time the HKMA has no independent verification of this information.

Despite the practical difficulties, the HKMA expects that institutions will review their accounts carefully in order to check that there are no accounts that, on the face of it, raise suspicions about connection with possible terrorist activities.

In keeping with “know your customer” principles, institutions should also exercise care in relation to the opening of new accounts where there are doubts about the beneficial ownership and/or the purpose for which the accounts are to be held.

In the event that any suspicious accounts and/or transactions are identified, institutions should notify the Joint Financial Intelligence Unit and also, in this instance, the HKMA.

Yours faithfully,

( D T R Carse )
Deputy Chief Executive