China Banking Regulator Says BEA (China) Ltd.'s Fundamentals Good

The Bank of East Asia (China) Ltd. has conducted stable operations on the mainland for several years and its current fundamentals are sound, a banking regulator said on Thursday.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission supports the judgments of the Bank of East Asia (BEA) by the Monetary Authority of Hong Kong, Yang Liping, deputy director of the agency's Banking Supervision Department III, said in a statement.

Panicked customers on Wednesday queued outside BEA branches across Hong Kong to withdraw deposits after hearing rumors that the lender was in financial trouble.

Local banks are well capitalized and highly liquid. Their asset quality is good and their operations have been strong. Bank of East Asia's capital adequacy and liquidity ratios are well above regulatory requirements, the Monetary Authority of Hong Kong said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Monetary Authority injected 3.9 billion Hong Kong dollars (502 million U.S. dollars) into the banking system to ease the credit strains, Chief Executive Joseph Yam said on Thursday.

Yam said in Hong Kong that the authority will monitor the market closely and inject more liquidity if necessary.

Source: CRIEnglish