Granting of banking licence to Industrial Bank of Taiwan Co., Ltd.
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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

    The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced today (July 17) that the Monetary Authority has granted a banking licence to Industrial Bank of Taiwan Co., Ltd. (IBT) under the Banking Ordinance.  The granting of this banking licence took effect on July 16, 2008.

    IBT is incorporated in Taiwan.  According to the July 2007 issue of The Banker, IBT is the 16th largest bank in Taiwan and the 483rd largest bank in the world in terms of tier one capital.

    After the granting of a banking licence to IBT, the number of licensed banks in Hong Kong has increased to 145.

For further enquiries, please contact:
Hing-fung Wong, Manager (Press), at 2878 1802 or
Lilian Goh, Officer (Press), at 2878 8246.

Ends/Thursday, July 17, 2008
Issued at HKT 16:38

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