THE second consultation paper on bank liquidity issued in July has met with few objections, but bankers believe more discussion about and understanding of individual bank's liquidity management is still needed.
Comments received by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority before the consultation period ended at the end of September showed that the thrust and principles embodied in the paper were generally accepted.
Some minor technical amendments were, however, put forward for further refining and polishing.
''We are still studying the comments but those were just technical details. We expect to put out a policy paper soon so that the new regime can be implemented early next year,'' said executive director (banking policy) Gordon Leung.
However, bankers are still worried because the paper leaves a number of points open to interpretation.
''The next stage is for the Monetary Authority to implement the policy sensibly. They have to ensure that they fully understand how banks manage their liquidity,'' said John Aspden, chairman of the Deposit-taking Companies Association.