No reason to panic over fake yuan notes, says bank The People's Bank of China says there is no cause for panic over the discovery of high-quality fake yuan banknotes, which have flooded mainland provinces and been found in Hong Kong. It said they were easily distinguishable from genuine notes. On Wednesday, Guangdong's Nanfang Daily warned of an influx of high-quality counterfeit 100 yuan notes and said they bore 10-digit serial numbers starting with either HD90 or HB90. However, the bank said some notes with HD90 or HB90 in their serial numbers were genuine and serial numbers could not be used to determine authenticity. The public could tell a note was genuine from its security fibres, security thread and watermark. Discussion over witnesses in Leung Chin-man case on hold A Legislative Council select committee postponed discussion of the list of witnesses it will call to testify on the government's controversial approval of a post-retirement job with a property developer for ex-housing chief Leung Chin-man. Li Fung-ying, chairwoman of the committee, said members would first seek more documents from the government. She did not elaborate. Ms Li was confident the postponement would not affect the committee's tentative schedule. The witness list and the order in which they will testify will be discussed in two weeks. The committee plans to begin inviting witnesses to give evidence in mid-February. More claims for compensation by investors to be heard in court The Small Claims Tribunal may refer to the District Court more of the compensation cases filed with it by investors in financial derivatives linked to collapsed US bank Lehman Brothers. Seventeen investors yesterday brought cases against four banks that sold them minibonds and similar derivatives. Representatives of two of the banks, DBS and Bank of China, requested that the District Court hear the cases. They were adjourned until March 23, when the tribunal will announce whether or not it will refer the cases. It is considering whether to transfer to the court 13 similar cases. The tribunal handles claims for up to HK$50,000.
