MACAO, Sept. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- The US government's money-laundering accusation on Banco Delta Asia (BDA), a Macao-based bank, produced a shaky environment for Macao's financial system, as the bank logged a total withdrawal of 300 million patacas (37.5million US dollars) till late Saturday.

    Stanley Au, chairman of the Delta Asia Financial Group (BDA's parent company), admitted at a press conference on late Saturday that the influx of withdrawal in just two days donned 10 percent of the bank's total deposit.

    Au called on the media to aid soothe local residents' panic over the bank's financial security.

    This reporter witnessed customers standing outside the bank's eight branches in long queue to squeeze out cash.

    Au, in response, said the bank has "abundant resources" to handle the crisis.

    He predicted that the stream of withdrawal will come to an end within the week.

    Local analysts said the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) government has much more to worry about, as the US assertionmight damage not only the bank's fame but also the residents' confidence in the region's financial system as a whole.

    Edmund Ho Hau Wah, chief executive of the MSAR, earlier on Saturday appealed for residents' faith in the local financial system.

    Ho made the remarks while talking to media on the sidelines of a science promotion event.

    He said the recent money-laundering allegation from the US government on BDA needs to be proved.

    He expressed the wish that local residents would keep their confidence in Macao's financial system, as the US charge "has nothing to do with the financial status of the bank."

    The MSAR government has always been in hard bid to maintain thesound running of the financial system, said Ho, adding that the Monetary Authority of Macao (MAM) has set up special task forces to follow up the probe into the BDA case.

    Ho wished that the incident would not tarnish the region's international image.

    The MAM also issued a statement on late Friday, calling on local residents to maintain their confidence in Macao's financial system.

    The MSAR government assigned two officials to participate in the operation of BDA.

    A government press release said owing to "the abnormal circumstances" in relation to the withdrawal of customer deposits of BDA, the MSAR government made the assignment "to safeguard the financial stability" of the region.

    Au, owner of BDA, was informed of the assignment minutes prior to the launching of the press conference.

    The government officials will help improve the situation, Au told the press conference.

    Stuart Levey, the US Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism andFinancial Intelligence (TFI) Thursday said in his report publishedon the web-page of the Department of Treasury that BDA has aided the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in series of money-laundering cases.

    The BDA, established in Macao in 1935, currently operates eightbranches and four offices in the special administrative region andDelta Asia Financial Group, BDA's parent company, has subsidiariesand offices in Hong Kong, Tokyo and the Chinese city of Zhuhai. Enditem