Banking/Financial Institutions

Overview | Capital Markets/Funds Management | Free Flow of Capital/Foreign Exchange
The Gold Market | Securities and Futures

Hong Kong maintains a three-tier system of deposit-taking institutions - licensed banks, restricted licence banks and deposit-taking companies.
Some 540 authorised institutions and deposit-taking companies from about 40 countries operate banking and related business in Hong Kong. They include 85 of the top 100 banks world-wide in terms of assets and the total assets and liabilities of the local banking sector is estimated to be at US$1,040 billion.
The importance of Hong Kong in the global banking world is also demonstrated by its external orientation - banks and deposit-taking institutions hold some US$590 billion of external assets, accounting for about 8% of the worldís total.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is responsible for the prudential supervision of the banking industry with an aim to provide protection to depositors and to promote the general stability and effective operation of the banking system.
In addition, the authority is also responsible for managing the Exchange Fund established to hold the backing to the note issued as well as to influence the exchange value of the Hong Kong dollar which is linked at a fixed exchange rate of HK$7.8 to US$1.
Bank notes in Hong Kong are issued by the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, the Standard Chartered Bank and the Bank of China.

The Better Hong Kong Foundation.