Question: Describe the type of banking in Hong Kong prior to 1964

full_context: Document 1: Economy of Hong Kong: As one of the world's leading international financial centres, Hong Kong's service-oriented economy is characterized by its low taxation, almost free port trade and well established international financial market. Its currency, called the Hong Kong dollar, is legally issued by three major international commercial banks, and pegged to the US dollar. Interest rates are determined by the individual banks in Hong Kong to ensure it is fully market-driven. There is no officially recognised central banking system, although Hong Kong Monetary Authority functions as a financial regulatory authority. When destabilising factors are hitting the financial market of Hong Kong, they will be monitored and inspected by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the financial regulatory agency in Hong Kong. Electronic finance trading is evolutionarily impacting the financial market of Hong Kong.
Document 2: Laissez-faire: Laissez-faire ( ; ] ; from French: "laissez faire" , 'let do' ) is an economic system in which transactions between private parties are free from government intervention such as regulation, privileges, tariffs, and subsidies. The phrase "laissez-faire" is part of a larger French phrase and basically translates to "let (it/them) do", but in this context usually means to "let go".
Document 3: Liberalism (book): Liberalism (original German title: "Liberalismus") is an influential book by Austrian School economist and libertarian thinker Ludwig von Mises, containing economic analysis and indicting critique of socialism. It was first published in 1927 by Gustav Fischer Verlag in Jena and defending classical liberal ideology based on individual property rights. Starting from the principle of private property, Mises shows how the other classical liberal freedoms follow from property rights and argues that liberalism free of government intervention is required to promote peace, social harmony and the general welfare. The book was translated into English by a student of Mises, Ralph Raico, but its first English edition in 1962 was titled "The Free and Prosperous Commonwealth" rather than "Liberalism", as Mises thought that the literal translation would create confusion because the term liberalism after the New Deal and especially in the 1960s became widely used in the United States to refer to a centre-left politics that supports degrees of government intervention, in opposition to Mises' central premise. The English translation was made available online by the Ludwig von Mises Institute in 2000.
Document 4: Freeganism: Freeganism is a practice and ideology of limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources, particularly through recovering wasted goods like food. The word "freegan" is a portmanteau of "free" and "vegan". While vegans might avoid buying animal products as an act of protest against animal exploitation, freegans—at least in theory—avoid buying "anything" as an act of protest against the food system in general.
Document 5: Central Bank of Bahrain: The Central Bank of Bahrain was established in 1973 as the Bahrain Monetary Agency, shortly after Bahrain gained its independence from the United Kingdom. As per "Decree No. 64 of 2006 with respect to promulgating the Central Bank of Bahrain and Financial Institutions Law", the Bahrain Monetary Agency is now the Central Bank of Bahrain. Its responsibilities include:
Document 6: Positive non-interventionism: Positive non-interventionism was the economic policy of Hong Kong; this policy can be traced back to the time when Hong Kong was under British rule. It was first officially implemented in 1971 by Financial Secretary of Hong Kong John Cowperthwaite, who observed that the economy was doing well in the absence of government intervention but it was important to create the regulatory and physical infrastructure to facilitate market-based decision making. The policy was continued by subsequent Financial Secretaries, including Sir Philip Haddon-Cave. Economist Milton Friedman has cited it as a fairly comprehensive implementation of laissez-faire policy, although Haddon-Cave has stated that the description of Hong Kong as a laissez-faire society was "frequent but inadequate".
Document 7: Banking in the United States: Banking in the United States is regulated by both the federal and state governments. The five largest banks in the United States at December 31, 2011 were JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Goldman Sachs. In December 2011, the five largest banks' assets were equal to 56 percent of the U.S. economy, compared with 43 percent five years earlier.
Document 8: Banking in Australia: Banking in Australia is dominated by four major banks: Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank and Westpac Banking Corporation. The banking sector consists of banks licensed under the "Banking Act 1959", foreign banks licensed to operate through a branch in Australia, and Australian-incorporated foreign bank subsidiaries. There are also a large number of financial institutions, such as credit unions, building societies and mutual banks, which provide limited banking-type services.
Document 9: Anarchy: Anarchy is the condition of a society, entity, group of people, or a single person that rejects hierarchy. The word originally meant leaderlessness, but in 1840 Pierre-Joseph Proudhon adopted the term in his treatise "What Is Property?" to refer to a new political philosophy: anarchism, which advocates stateless societies based on voluntary associations. In practical terms, anarchy can refer to the curtailment or abolition of traditional forms of government. It can also designate a nation (or anywhere on earth that is inhabited) that has no system of government or central rule.
Document 10: Economics Does Not Lie: Economics Does Not Lie: A Defense of the Free Market in a Time of Crisis ("L'Économie ne ment pas"; published in French in 2008) is a non-fiction book by French classical liberal economist and philosopher Guy Sorman. Sorman argues that while the recent world economic recession involved serious problems, it would be a grievous mistake to use the crisis as justification to abandon free market democratic capitalism. Sorman writes that the current system has resulted in huge benefits with about a billion people worldwide lifted out of poverty. Encounter Books published the English-language version of the book on July 20, 2009.
Document 11: Anarcho-capitalism: Anarcho-capitalism is a political philosophy and school of anarchist thought that advocates the elimination of the state in favor of self-ownership, private property, and free markets. Anarcho-capitalists hold that, in the absence of statute (law by centralized decrees and legislation), society tends to contractually self-regulate and civilize through the discipline of the free market (in what its proponents describe as a "voluntary society").
Document 12: Banking Ordinance: The Banking Ordinance is a set of laws passed by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong to tighten restrictions for opening up or licensing a bank. Prior to the 1964 re-regulations, the government had no way to control bank's monetary effect on the economy. It also had no way of protecting the people utilizing the institutions. Banking was considered a Laissez-faire network, and was also described as "Free Banking" or "Wildcat Banking" filled with much uncertainty.
Document 13: Basel I: Basel I is the round of deliberations by central bankers from around the world, and in 1988, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) in Basel, Switzerland, published a set of minimum capital requirements for banks. This is also known as the 1988 Basel Accord, and was enforced by law in the Group of Ten (G-10) countries in 1992. A new set of rules known as Basel II was later developed with the intent to supersede the Basel I accords. However they were criticized by some for allowing banks to take on additional types of risk, which was considered part of the cause of the US subprime financial crisis that started in 2008. In fact, bank regulators in the United States took the position of requiring a bank to follow the set of rules (Basel I or Basel II) giving the more conservative approach for the bank. Because of this it was anticipated that only the few very largest US banks would operate under the Basel II rules, the others being regulated under the Basel I framework. Basel III was developed in response to the financial crisis; it does not supersede either Basel I or II , but focuses on different issues primarily related to the risk of a bank run.
Document 14: List of Swiss financial market legislation: Legislation and supervision of the Swiss financial markets is achieved through a system of laws, ordinances and circulars released by the Swiss Federal Assembly, the Swiss Federal Council and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).
Document 15: The Mystery of Banking: The Mystery of Banking is Murray Rothbard's 1983 book explaining the modern fractional-reserve banking system and its origins. In his June 2008 preface to the 298-page second edition, Douglas E. French suggests the work also lays out the “...devastating effects [of fractional-reserve banking] on the lives of every man, woman, and child.”
ground_truth: transactions between private parties are free from government intervention