Rates for mortgages up to the banks: Regulator

2013-3-19

From：Macau Business

The Monetary Authority of Macau is leaving it to the banks in Macau to decide whether to follow two big banks in Hong Kong in raising mortgage interest rates.

The chairman of the Monetary Authority, Anselmo Teng Lin Seng, told reporters yesterday that the situation in Hong Kong is not the same as in Macau, our sister publication Business Dailyreports.

Two Hong Kong banks, HSBC Holdings Plc and Standard Chartered Plc, raised their prime mortgage rates by 0.25 percentage points last week for the first time since 2011.

In addition, Mr Teng said all banks in Macau follow the rules against illegal financial transactions “without any issues”.

Commenting on United States congressman Ed Royce’s claims against Delta Asia Bank Ltd for maintaining business links with North Korea, he added the banks here are also obliged to respect sanctions set up by the United Nations against individuals or companies linked to money laundering.

The United States accused Delta Asia of laundering money for the North Korean government in 2005 and froze about US$25 million (MOP200 million) in funds kept in the bank.

The money was unfrozen two years later.

Currently, the bank is still banned from doing business with U.S. financial institutions, which in effect prevents it from dealing in foreign currency.

Copyright@Macau Business