NEARLY four years after it collapsed, the Bank of Credit and Commerce Hong Kong (BCCHK) has had its banking licence revoked.
A member of the Committee of Inspection, Mohan Chugani, said: 'I'm surprised this was not done earlier.' The committee was appointed by the High Court to oversee the liquidation.
Mr Chugani questioned the decision by the Government to close the bank, which he believes had enough funds to continue operating.
To date, BCCHK's large depositors - individuals who were owed more than $100,000 by the bank - have received 83 per cent of their deposits while the small depositors have been fully refunded.
He said had the bank not been viable, its depositors would not have been paid back so much and in such a short time.
He said he was surprised by the speed at which Barings had been rescued from the brink of collapse and lamented that the same help had not been extended to BCCHK when it folded.