Financial Secretary (Hong Kong)

The Financial Secretary (Chinese: 財政司司長) 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 transfer of sovereignty) for his actions in supervising the formulation and implementation of financial and economic policies.

Financial Secretary of the
Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region
香港特別行政區財政司司長
Incumbent
The Hon Paul Chan
since 16 January 2016
StyleThe Honourable
Member ofExecutive Council
Reports toLegislative Council
Residence45 Shouson Hill Road
AppointerState Council of the People's Republic of China
nomination by Chief Executive
Term lengthNo longer than the Chief Executive's remaining term
Inaugural holderSir Donald Tsang
Formation1 July 1997
SalaryHK$4.3 million p.a.[1]
WebsiteFSO
Financial Secretary
Traditional Chinese財政司司長
Simplified Chinese财政司司长

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/Attorney General) not to have been occupied by a woman.

The incumbent Financial Secretary is Paul Chan Mo-po.

List of secretaries

Secretaries and treasurers to the Superintendent, 1842–1844

Colonial treasurers, 1844–1937

No. Portrait Name Term of office Governor Ref
1 Montgomery Martin 31 May 1844 8 July 1845 Sir John Francis Davis
(1843–1844)
2 William Thomas Mercer
孖沙
1 January 1848[2] 31 March 1854
Sir George Bonham
(1844–1854)
3 Robert Rienaecker 1854[2] 1856 Sir John Bowring
(1844–1859)
4 Frederick Forth 15 May 1857[2] 23 February 1871
Sir Hercules Robinson
(1859–1865)
Sir Richard MacDonnell
(1865–1872)
5 Sir Cecil Clementi Smith 13 November 1874 29 April 1878
Sir Arthur Kennedy
(1872–1877)
6 Sir James Russell
羅素
26 February 1880 24 March 1883
Sir John Pope Hennessy
(1877–1882)
7 Alfred Lister
理斯特
26 May 1883[3] 16 June 1890 Sir George Bowen
(1883–1885)
Sir William Des Voeux
(1887–1891)
8 N. G. Mitchell-Innes
密徹爾-因斯
15 October 1891[3] 26 February 1895 Sir William Robinson
(1891–1898)
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
(1898–1903)
Sir Matthew Nathan
(1903–1907)
Sir Frederick Lugard
(1907–1912)
Sir Francis Henry May
(1912–1918)
11 Charles Messer
馬斯德
31 December 1918 2 April 1931 Sir Reginald Stubbs
(1919–1925)
Sir Cecil Clementi
(1925–1930)
Sir William Peel
(1930–1935)
12 Edwin Taylor
戴萊
2 July 1931 10 March 1937
Sir Andrew Caldecott
(1935–1937)

Financial secretaries, 1937–1941

No. Portrait Name Term of office Duration Governor Ref
1 Sir Sydney Caine
金錫儀
9 March 1938 16 November 1939 1 year, 252 days Sir Geoffry Northcote
(1937–1941)
2 Henry Butters
畢打士
20 June 1940 25 December 1941 1 year, 188 days
Mark Aitchison Young
(1941)

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 5 years, 1 day Sir Mark Aitchison Young
(1946–1947)
Sir Alexander Grantham
(1947–1957)
4 Arthur Grenfell Clarke
岐樂嘉
20 February 1952 9 April 1961 9 years, 49 days [4]
Sir Robert Brown Black
(1958–1964)
5 Sir John Cowperthwaite
郭伯偉
17 April 1961 30 June 1971 10 years, 75 days [5][6]
Sir David Trench
(1964–1971)
6 Sir Philip Haddon-Cave
夏鼎基
1 July 1971 31 May 1981 9 years, 335 days [6][7]
Sir Murray MacLehose
(1971–1982)
7 Sir John Henry Bremridge
彭勵治
1 June 1981 31 May 1986 5 years, 0 days [7][8]
Sir Edward Youde
(1982–1986)
8 Sir Piers Jacobs
翟克誠
1 June 1986 11 August 1991 5 years, 72 days [8][9]
Sir David Wilson
(1987–1992)
9 Sir Hamish Macleod
麥高樂
12 August 1991 31 August 1995 4 years, 20 days [9][10]
Chris Patten
(1992–1997)
10 Sir Donald Tsang
曾蔭權
1 September 1995 30 June 1997 1 year, 303 days [10]

Financial secretaries, 1997–present

Political party:   Nonpartisan

No. Portrait Name Term of office Duration Chief Executive Term Ref
1 Donald Tsang Yam-kuen
曾蔭權
1 July 1997 30 April 2001 3 years, 304 days Tung Chee-hwa
(1997–2005)
1
2 Antony Leung Kam-chung
梁錦松
1 May 2001 16 July 2003 2 years, 77 days
2
3 Henry Tang Ying-yen
唐英年
4 August 2003 30 June 2007 3 years, 349 days
Donald Tsang
(2005–2012)
2
4 John Tsang Chun-wah
曾俊華
1 July 2007 16 January 2017[n 1] 9 years, 200 days 3
Leung Chun-ying
(2012–2017)
4
5 Paul Chan Mo-po
陳茂波
16 January 2017 Incumbent 6 years, 283 days
Carrie Lam
(2017–2022)
5
John Lee
(2022–present)
6
  1. Resigned on 12 December 2016, with effect on 16 January 2017, KC Chan served as acting Financial Secretary from 13 December 2016 to 16 January 2017.

Residence

Residence of the Financial Secretary.

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

  1. "Remuneration package for Politically Appointed Officials serving in fifth-term HKSAR Government". Hong Kong Government.
  2. Endacott, G. B. (2005) [1962]. A biographical sketch-book of early Hong Kong. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 978-9622097421.
  3. sunzi.lib.hku.hk PDF
  4. "No. 596 of 1961". Hong Kong Government Gazette. 103: 885. 14 April 1961.
  5. "No. 647 of 1961". Hong Kong Government Gazette. 103: 967. 20 April 1961.
  6. "G.N. 1425 of 1971". Hong Kong Government Gazette. 113: 2064. 2 July 1971.
  7. "G.N. 1599 of 1981". Hong Kong Government Gazette. 123: 1879. 5 June 1981.
  8. "G.N. 1892 of 1986". Hong Kong Government Gazette. 128: 2560. 6 June 1986.
  9. "G.N. 2824 of 1991". Hong Kong Government Gazette. 133: 4272. 16 August 1991.
  10. "G.N. 3433 of 1995". Hong Kong Government Gazette. 137: 5318. 1 September 1995.
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