Briefing on the proposed Members’ Bill — Bank of Communications (Hong Kong) Limited (Merger) Bill
At the invitation of the Deputy Chairman, Mr CHAN Chun-ying gave a brief introduction on the Bank of Communications (Hong Kong) Limited (Merger) Bill (“the Bill”). He explained that the purpose of the Bill, which he would introduce into the Legislative Council (“LegCo”) as a private Member’s bill, was to provide for the transfer of the retail banking business and private banking business of Bank of Communications Co., Ltd. (“BCOM”) currently operated through a branch in Hong Kong (i.e. BCOM, Hong Kong Branch) to Bank of Communications (Hong Kong) Limited (“BCOM (Hong Kong)”) which was a wholly-owned subsidiary within the Bank of Communications group of companies. BCOM (Hong Kong) had been incorporated in Hong Kong since 2014 and had been granted a bank licence by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (“HKMA”). The corporate governance, business operations and capital requirements of BCOM (Hong Kong) would be subject to the regulatory requirements under the Banking Ordinance (Cap. 155) applicable to locally-incorporated authorized institutions. Mr CHAN added that a same bill had been introduced in the Fifth LegCo but was lapsed upon the prorogation of the Fifth LegCo. A Bills Committee had been formed to study that bill, and issues like the capital adequacy ratio of, property and liabilities to be transferred to, and protection of customers’ interests and employees’ benefits of BCOM (Hong Kong) had been thoroughly discussed. Subject to the President’s ruling and the Chief Executive’s consent, the Bill would be introduced during the current LegCo term. The provisions of the Bill were similar to those of the bank merger ordinances previously passed by LegCo, and therefore he recommended the Bill to Members.