The banking system in Hong Kong is characterized by its 3-tier system, which is formed by 3 types of banking institutions, namely licensed banks, restricted licence banks and deposit-taking companies, which are authorised to take deposits from the general public.
The 3 tiers of deposit-taking institutions operate under different restrictions. Only licensed banks and restricted licensed banks can be called banks. As of end-December 2015, there were 157 licensed banks, 24 restricted licence banks and 18 deposit-taking companies. There were also 64 representative offices of overseas banks.