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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced today (July 25) that the Monetary Authority has upgraded Shinhan Bank's (SHB) restricted banking licence to a banking licence under the Banking Ordinance. The upgrade took effect on July 24, 2008.
SHB is incorporated in Korea and has operated a branch in Hong Kong under a restricted banking licence since November 2006. According to the July 2007 issue of The Banker, SHB is the 3rd largest bank in Korea and the 76th largest bank in the world in terms of tier one capital.
After the upgrade of SHB, the number of licensed banks in Hong Kong has increased to 146 while the number of restricted licence banks in Hong Kong has decreased to 28.
For further enquiries, please contact:
Peggy Lo, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687 or
Hing-fung Wong, Manager (Press), at 2878 1802
Ends/Friday, July 25, 2008
Issued at HKT 16:41
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