WE'VE had a very interesting fax from Ramanathan Shivkumar, a chap who falls into that dangerous 0.001 per cent of the population who actually read things before they sign them.
He's been studying the terms and conditions for an account with ABN AMRO Bank NV, Hong Kong, the local office of the European banking giant.
Since the June 4 massacre lots of locals have been opening bank accounts, usually in US dollars or Swiss francs, with foreign banks in the belief that if the People Liberation Army starts enforcing a 'one country, no system at all' policy they can go to the bank's head office overseas and collect their cash.
He's drawn our attention to clause 25, which we reprint on the right. The first sentence has about 140 words and isn't exactly a model of clarity. It means: 'If the Hong Kong system collapses the bank back in Europe won't pay up.' This is despite the fact the the account is held by the Dutch holding firm, not a Hong Kong subsidiary.
However, in the case of such a bank collapsing for some commercial reason - such as the manager donating all of the cash to the ex-Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club - then the parent will retain liability.
ABN AMRO's Len Steffen was very keen yesterday to point out that this is nothing to do with '97, and the bank has been using similar terms for decades.
