presentments into back - office processing and risk - management systems. as a result, the use of substitute checks is widespread. nevertheless, in july 2006 almost 4 percent of the reserve banks ’ daily volume, or about one and a half million checks, was presented to paying banks in electronic check 21 files, and this volume is growing rapidly. thus, banks are starting to realize many of the benefits of the end - to - end electronic check processing that were envisioned when check 21 was enacted, including efficiency gains and cost savings. in addition, they are beginning to offer their customers new and better services. for example, some banks are offering their business customers the ability to truncate checks and deposit them electronically. also, banks are now able to set a later - in - the - day cutoff hour for check deposits because they can transmit checks electronically from their branches to their central processing facilities for collection. as a result, banks should be able to provide customers with improved funds availability, more efficient cash management services, and better access to services for their geographically remote customers. the evolution of electronic check collection how will electronic check collection evolve in the years to come? the industry is discussing several possible models. in the first, check images are transmitted to the paying bank along with the micr - line payment information. 3 in the second, the micr information is transmitted to the paying bank while the check images are stored in remote archives that can be accessed on demand. both models are already being used to some extent and each has its advantages and disadvantages. i suspect that, as the industry gains greater experience with electronic check collection, the superiority of one of the models may become clearer. those who favor the first model believe that it allows paying banks to better manage their risks and customer relationships. paying banks would not have to rely on multiple image archive providers, with whom they may have no direct contractual relationship, to obtain check images for customer online banking services and backroom operations. others believe that a small number of centralized checkimage archives, as envisioned in the second model, would be more cost - effective and would not appreciably increase risk or degrade customer service. in this model, the micr information on a check could be transmitted over a dedicated network or, as recently suggested by some bankers, the ach. check 21 removed legal barriers that were preventing electronic technologies from being applied to long - established checkcollection processes. before check 21, a bank had to present the original

mr. dai assesses the outlook for hong kong as asia ’ s financial centre speech by the governor of the people ’ s bank of china, mr. dai xianglong, at the luncheon hosted by the hong kong financial secretary in washington on 30 / 9 / 96. the 1997 world bank / imf annual meetings will be held in hong kong next year. mr liu zhongli, the minister of finance and myself will be there welcoming you as the host of the occasion. i foresee that the annual meetings to be held next year will be a magnificent event which commands far - reaching historical significance. this is because the annual meetings of the two important international financial organisations are to be held in hong kong just a few months after china resumes the exercise of sovereignty over hong kong. representatives from various countries will have the opportunity to witness the realisation of the principle of “ one country, two systems ” in hong kong. i believe that nobody will wish to miss such an opportunity. mr tsang has just expressed his views on the economy of hong kong before and after 1997. i would like to say a few words from the perspective of the people ’ s bank of china ( pboc ). i have stated on many occasions that we are confident that after china resumes the exercise of sovereignty over hong kong, the territory will not only remain prosperous and stable, but its status as an international financial centre will also be further enhanced. and i have good reasons for this confidence. first, there are the strong economic fundamentals of hong kong and the entrepreneurial and management skills of the people of hong kong. these form the basis for hong kong ’ s continued prosperity and stability and for maintaining hong kong ’ s status as an international financial centre. as you all know, hong kong is an international trade, transport, financial and information centre. with the rapid economic developments taking place in the asia - pacific region, hong kong ’ s role as an international financial centre will not be weakened ; instead, its importance will certainly increase. according to the “ joint declaration of the government of the united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland and the government of the people ’ s republic of china on the question of hong kong ” and “ the basic law of the hong kong special administrative region of the people ’ s republic of china ”, hong kong will become a special administrative region of the people ’ s republic of china from 1 july 1997. it will enjoy a high degree of autonomy with hong kong people ruling