Recently I have noted that the Law Society of Hong Kong incorporates banking as one of the items under which a trainee solicitor should acquire training and experience. This is an interesting move as the legal profession has now recognized the importance of banking knowledge for their practitioners. This points to the development of dual-discipline professionals. "Dual-discipline" here means that professionals from one discipline acquire in-depth knowledge as well as the modus operandi of another profession in order to enhance their personal value and make contribution to their discipline.

This book has been written with the needs of dual-discipline professionals in mind. Legal knowledge and banking practices are jointly considered. It has been a time-consuming but educational exercise for me because this book embodies considerable amount of original research. For example, I understand that this is the first book of this kind that deals with the amended bankruptcy law, the arrangement of mortgage under the Housing Authority Schemes, and the mortgaging of shares under the current securities clearing system. I hope readers find this book useful.

Finally, I want to thank my HKIB and City University of Hong Kong colleagues for the encouragement and assistance they have given to me.