Banks are considering insuring the contents of safe deposit boxes after DBS Bank accidentally discarded dozens of boxes and their contents as scrap metal just over a week ago.
Speaking after an RTHK forum at Victoria Park yesterday, Liu Chong Hing Bank senior manager Brian Cheung Nam-chung said he wished all local banks would reach a consensus with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and Hong Kong Association of Banks to fix an upper compensation limit to protect depositors.
'It would take about three months for us to set the limit,' Mr Cheung said. 'After that, we will contact the insurance companies to decide on the premium.'
However, he said it was technically difficult to set a premium because the value of some precious deposits was difficult to measure.
'Most customers are free to deposit whatever they want in the deposit boxes, so it's very difficult to fix the limit. Some properties, like certificates, don't even have a monetary value,' he said.
'But from the insurance companies' point of view, this is a relatively low-risk business because it's really rare for clients to lose their safe-box valuables.'
