The Hong Kong Association of Banks (HKAB) is making a second trip to Beijing to lobby mainland authorities as its members are becoming increasingly concerned about their exposure to collapsed Guangdong International Trust & Investment Corp (Gitic). HKAB secretary Paul Lowndes said the association hoped to meet State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) officials 'very soon' and would seek to clarify a number of concerns. The HKAB led a delegation to Beijing earlier this month and held talks with People's Bank of China (PBOC) governor Dai Xianglong about Gitic's proposed foreign debt repayments. Despite the meeting, it is understood considerable uncertainty remains over the exact repayment proposals. 'There are a whole bundle of issues,' Mr Lowndes said. Foreign bankers have been anxiously awaiting clarification from the PBOC about how debts will be repaid. It remains unknown whether debt registered with SAFE will be repaid in full as the PBOC has yet to issue an expected supplementary notice. Only one announcement has been made since the central bank closed Gitic on October 6. One banker said his bank had not received a confirmation letter from Gitic's liquidation team ensuring its claims had been registered with the team. Bank of China, entrusted to manage Gitic, has set a January 6 deadline for claims to be registered by foreign banks and said a confirmation letter would be issued 30 days after registration. The banker said: 'After 30 days, we called the liquidation team in Guangzhou to see whether the confirmation letter is ready. It said 30 days referred to 30 working days. 'It seems to us that neither the Bank of China nor the liquidation team can make the decision.' The banker said Gitic would set a precedent as to how Beijing would handle the repayment of future foreign debt. If it could not be handled in a proper way, it would have a far-reaching impact as more and more mainland companies were understood to be facing financial difficulties. 'Foreign banks have begun to lose patience,' he said.
