The Monetary Authority has appointed Derek Lai of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu as the manager of Indover Bank (Asia) with immediate effect.

IBHK is a restricted licence bank incorporated in Hong Kong and authorised under the Banking Ordinance, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of De Indonesische Overzeese Bank N.V. (IOB) in the Netherlands.

The District Court of Amsterdam declared emergency regulations on IBHK's parent bank IOB and appointed Administrators for IOB on October 6. In light of the administratorship of IOB, the Monetary Authority has taken a series of supervisory measures designed to ring-fence IBHK's assets.

It said Mr Lai's appointment today to manage the affairs of IBHK represents a progression and an enhancement of these measures, adding it will monitor the situation closely.

One of the primary objectives of the manager is to take into custody all the assets to which IBHK is or appears to be entitled, safeguard and conserve them and protect the interests of depositors.