The Financial Secretary is the title held by the Hong Kong government minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters (“Department of Finance” per Article 60 of the Basic Law). The position is among the three most senior Principal Officials of the Government, second only to the Chief Secretary in the order of precedence (but not subordinate to the CS). Together with other secretaries, the Financial Secretary is accountable to the Legislative Council and the Chief Executive (the Governor before the 1997 handover) for his actions in supervising the formulation and implementation of financial and economic policies.

The position evolved out of the office of the Colonial Treasurer before 1940. The Financial Secretary is a member of the Executive Council, and gives advice to the Chief Executive in that capacity. He is also responsible for delivering the annual budget to the Legislative Council. To date, it is the only office among the three highest Principal Officials of the Government (Chief Secretary, Financial Secretary, and Secretary for Justice) not to have been occupied by a woman.

The incumbent Financial Secretary is Paul Chan Mo-po.

Role The financial secretary delivers the budget and oversees the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, the Development Bureau, the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, the Housing Bureau, the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau, and the Transport and Logistics Bureau. The financial secretary's office also exercises control over the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, which is Hong Kong's de facto central bank. The Office of the Government Economist and Budget and Tax Policy Unit are also attached to the Financial Secretary's Office.

The office is incorporated as a corporation sole, known as The Financial Secretary Incorporated.

List of secretaries

Secretaries and treasurers to the Superintendent, 1842–1844 Edward Elmslie, 1842–1843 Charles Edward Stewart, 1843–1844

Colonial treasurers, 1844–1937 Portrait Name Term of office Governor Ref 1 Montgomery Martin 31 May 1844 8 July 1845 Sir John Francis Davis 2 William Thomas Mercer孖沙 1 January 1848 31 March 1854 Sir George Bonham 3 Robert Rienaecker 1854 1856 Sir John Bowring 4 Frederick Forth 15 May 1857 23 February 1871 Sir Hercules Robinson Sir Richard MacDonnell 5 Sir Cecil Clementi Smith 13 November 1874 29 April 1878 Sir Arthur Kennedy 6 Sir James Russell羅素 26 February 1880 24 March 1883 Sir John Pope Hennessy 7 Alfred Lister理斯特 26 May 1883sunzi.lib.hku.hk PDF 16 June 1890 Sir George Bowen Sir William Des Voeux 8 N. G. Mitchell-Innes密徹爾-因斯 15 October 1891 26 February 1895 Sir William Robinson 9 Thomas Sercombe Smith史密夫 3 May 1897 28 February 1898 10 A. MacDonald Thomson譚臣 8 February 1899 10 December 1918 Sir Henry Arthur Blake Sir Matthew Nathan Sir Frederick Lugard Sir Francis Henry May 11 Charles Messer馬斯德 31 December 1918 2 April 1931 Sir Reginald Stubbs Sir Cecil Clementi Sir William Peel 12 Edwin Taylor戴萊 2 July 1931 10 March 1937 Sir Andrew Caldecott

Financial secretaries, 1937–1941 Portrait Name Term of office Duration Governor Ref 1 Sir Sydney Caine金錫儀 9 March 1938 16 November 1939 Sir Geoffry Northcote 2 Henry Butters畢打士 20 June 1940 25 December 1941 Mark Aitchison Young

Financial secretaries, 1946–1997 № Portrait Name Term of office Duration Governor Ref 3 Sir Geoffrey Follows霍勞士 1 May 1946 2 May 1951 Sir Mark Aitchison Young Sir Alexander Grantham 4 Arthur Grenfell Clarke岐樂嘉 20 February 1952 9 April 1961 Sir Robert Brown Black 5 Sir John Cowperthwaite郭伯偉 17 April 1961 30 June 1971 Sir David Trench 6 Sir Philip Haddon-Cave夏鼎基 1 July 1971 31 May 1981 Sir Murray MacLehose 7 Sir John Henry Bremridge彭勵治 1 June 1981 31 May 1986 Sir Edward Youde 8 Sir Piers Jacobs翟克誠 1 June 1986 11 August 1991 Sir David Wilson 9 Sir Hamish Macleod麥高樂 12 August 1991 31 August 1995 Chris Patten 10 Sir Donald Tsang曾蔭權 1 September 1995 30 June 1997

Financial secretaries, 1997–present Political party:

Portrait Name Term of office Duration Chief Executive Term Ref1 Sir Donald Tsang曾蔭權 1 July 1997 30 April 2001 Tung Chee-hwa12Antony Leung Kam-chung梁錦松1 May 200116 July 200323Henry Tang Ying-yen唐英年4 August 200330 June 2007Donald Tsang 24John Tsang Chun-wah曾俊華1 July 200716 January 2017 3 Leung Chun-ying 45 Paul Chan Mo-po陳茂波 16 January 2017 Incumbent Carrie Lam 5 John Lee 6

Residence

The Financial Secretary's residence is on 45 Shouson Hill Road in Deep Water Bay. It is listed as a grade 2 building. Described as a two-story neo-Georgian style residence built in 1935 and originally owned by Sir Shouson Chow as his own residence. The first Financial Secretary who moved into the building was Sir Charles Geoffrey Shield Follows.

See also

References

External links Financial Secretary