THE Allen report into the Allied Group will add to international pressure for supervision of and disclosure by banks incorporated in centres like the Cook Islands, says Hong Kong Monetary Authority deputy chief executive David Carse.
The report revealed that the Cook Islands were used extensively to avoid Hong Kong listing rules and Mr Carse said the authority did not supervise the operations of banks incorporated outside Hong Kong.
Of the findings of government inspector Nicholas Allen into Allied transactions with First South China Bank (FSBC), incorporated in the Cook Islands, Mr Carse said that while supervision of such banks was the responsibility of home regulators, he expected the situation would be rectified by the international banking community.
''The Bank for International Settlements [BIS] is already looking at questions about these offshore banking centres, particularly after the BCCI [Bank of Credit and Commerce International] incident,'' he said.
The BIS is an international body responsible for the supervision of international banking activities.
US supervisors were particularly concerned, he said, primarily because BCCI had made transactions through some offshore centres.
