Banking Industry England

Japanese banks are expanding their efforts to win domestic business in Britain at a time competition for lending to large corporations is intensifying. Growing interest within Britain's business community in borrowing from Japan--the world's largest creditor nation--has helped the banks build up their British lending business.

The global scandal over the operations of the Bank of Credit & Commerce International has roiled this colony--one of the world's key financial centers--all week, culminating Friday in a run on one of Hong Kong's major banks. The main downtown office of Standard Chartered Bank was besieged by more than 400 people seeking to withdraw their money. For three days, Citibank's Hong Kong branches had suffered heavy withdrawals from retail customers.

Great Britain's Midland Bank said Tuesday that it has agreed to be bought by the parent company of Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp., creating Britain's largest bank and the 10th biggest in the world. The buyout by HSBC Holdings, a diverse financial services firm in Hong Kong that already owns 14.9% of Midland, will create a bank with total assets of $248.6 billion as well as a strong force in Britain's ailing banking industry.