Hong Kong  - Panicked customers queued up Wednesday to withdraw their savings from branches of the Bank of East Asia in Hong Kong as rumours circulated that the bank was facing financial problems.

The rumours were categorically denied by the bank's management, which nevertheless had to extend business hours by 30 minutes to cope with the queues of anxious customers.

The Bank of East Asia, owned by one of Hong Kong's wealthiest families, blamed "malicious rumours" that it said had been circulating in the market since Monday and questioned the bank's financial stability.

The statement said the bank had assets of more than 50 billion US dollars in June and its capital adequacy ratio was 14.6 per cent - a level it described as "well above the international required level."

It said the bank's total exposure to the collapsed US investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc and American International Group Inc, the world's largest insurer, which was bailed out by the US government last week, was 422.8 million Hong Kong dollars (54.46 million US dollars) and 49.9 million Hong Kong dollars, respectively.

The assurance did little to calm the bank's customers, however, who feared the bank might be another casualty of the global credit crunch and flocked to its 130 city branches to withdraw money.

In a statement, the bank said: "The management ... understands that these rumours were first disseminated via electronic devices later in the afternoon on 23rd September.

"Upon learning of the malicious rumours, the management ... immediately reported the matter to police and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. The police are taking expedient and appropriate measure in response."

The statement added that management "states in the strongest possible terms that such rumours have no basis in fact. ... The bank's financial position is sound and stable."

Speaking to reporters, deputy chief executive Joseph Pang insisted the bank had enough cash to meet the demands of anxious customers as the run on the bank gathered pace Wednesday.

"If we don't pay people, they start to think we are in big trouble," he told the government-run radio station RTHK. "We are not in trouble financially."

Set up in 1918, the Bank of East Asia is the largest independent local bank in Hong Kong and had total consolidated assets of 50.85 billion US dollars as of June 30, according to its website.

The bank has 60 outlets in mainland China and around 30 more in the United States, Canada and Britain and employs more than 10,800 people worldwide. (dpa)