Liu Chong Hing Bank Chairman Liu Lit-man has dismissed as rumours the talk about his family selling the majority stakes of the bank after its name changed to Chong Hing Bank.

Shareholders approved the proposal to change the name of the bank at a special general meeting yesterday.

The new name would be used by the end of the year, and the bank's logo would undergo a slight change, general manger, finance, Frederick Chan said.

Liu said his family had no intention of selling its shares. Rather, the name change is aimed at giving the bank a facelift and attracting more young customers. He hoped the bank would be able to shake off the old fashion family-business governance, and make the new name reflect its public-listed nature more truly.

The bank has fulfilled CEPA criteria that a Hong Kong lender should have a minimum registered capital of US$6 billion to enter the mainland market, Chan said. But the management will study the rules for foreign banks before deciding to register on the mainland.

The bank has already applied for licences to run yuan business for its branches in Shantou and "plans to open more branches on the mainland in order to complement the growth of its Hong Kong business".

Liu said the renovation of its Central headquarters is almost complete. "Some departments will move to the new office on December 23 and it will begin operating on December 27."

This is good for the bank because the 20 storey-office is expected to save the company between HK$10 million to HK$20 million in rents every year.

Also, the bank plans to open at least five more branches in Hong Kong in a month, raising their number from 36 in the beginning of the year to 41 at the end.

To meet customers' demand, the bank has extended the working hours in three of its branches' on the weekends. "The three branches mainly provide security and asset management services," Chan said.

Responding to the US Federal Reserve's concern on the imminent inflation, Liu said it was hard to predict the interest trend of Hong Kong and the US because many economic data had not been made public.