HSBC says it will bear all the costs of rectifying a problem with the design of its new HK$100 banknotes, which were due to go into circulation in November.
On the notes, the five petals of the white Bauhinia flower on the Hong Kong flag point in a clockwise direction when they should be pointing anti-clockwise, since the flagpole is on the right.
HSBC, the Monetary Authority and the government issued a joint statement yesterday to apologise for the mistake, which was pointed out by members of the public after the authority and the three note-issuing banks unveiled the designs of their new HK$20, HK$50 and HK$100 notes on Friday.
'HSBC, as a note-issuing bank, has responsibility for the design of banknotes,' the statement said.
'The design of banknotes was reviewed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. As regards the design involving the national and regional flags, it had also been referred to the administrative wing for approval.
'The three parties had not detected the issue, we sincerely apologise for the incident.'
