11 August 2004

Dear Sir / Madam,

Quarterly Survey of Participation in the Commercial Credit Reference Agency (CCRA)

With the implementation process of the CCRA entering a critical phase, I am writing to inform you that the above-captioned survey will be conducted on a monthly basis starting from August 2004.

The preliminary results of the third quarterly survey to cover the position as at 30 June 2004 show that most AIs are making good progress in the consent seeking process. By the end of June, AIs had sought consent from a total of 79% of their SME customers, of which 72% had responded. Of those responding, 95% had given their consent.

As you may recall, the consent seeking process started on 2 October 2003 and AIs are expected to complete their consent seeking process by the end of August 2004 so that the CCRA can commence operation in the fourth quarter of 2004. In view of the impending launch of the scheme, the HKMA considers it necessary to step up its efforts in monitoring AIs' progress in seeking customer consent. We have discussed this matter with the Industry Working Party on CCRA and it was agreed that the survey should be conducted on a monthly basis from this month onward. To enable the Industry Working Party to prepare for the launch of the scheme, it is also necessary to advance the reporting deadline for the September and October positions by two weeks. This means that your institution should submit the surveys for the coming months accordingly to the following schedule:

We will consider whether the survey should be continued after the launch of the scheme at a later stage.

Should you have any questions on the content of this letter, please feel free to contact Mr Alfred Wong on 2878-1292 or Miss Ivy Wong on 2878-1599.

Yours faithfully,

Arthur Yuen
Executive Director (Banking Development)