The Financial Secretary () is the title held by the Hong Kong

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. 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 A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

, the Financial Secretary is accountable to the Legislative Council and the

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

(the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

before the 1997 transfer of sovereignty) 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 Executive Council may refer to: Government * Executive Council (Commonwealth countries), a constitutional organ that exercises executive power and advises the governor * Executive Council of Bern, the government of the Swiss canton of Bern * Ex ...

, 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 In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

) not to have been occupied by a woman. The incumbent Financial Secretary is

Paul Chan Mo-po Paul Chan Mo-po (; born 18 March 1955) is the Financial Secretary of Hong Kong and former Secretary for Development of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. He was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (Accountancy functional co ...

List of Secretaries

Secretaries and Treasurers to the Superintendent, 1842–1844

Edward Elmslie Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sax ...

, 1842–1843 * Charles Edward Stewart, 1843–1844

Colonial Treasurers, 1844–1937

Financial Secretaries, 1937–1941

Financial Secretaries, 1946–1997

Financial Secretaries, 1997–present

Political party:

Residence

The Financial Secretary's residence is on 45 Shouson Hill Road in

Deep Water Bay Deep Water Bay is a bay and residential area on the southern shore of Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. The bay is surrounded by Shouson Hill, Brick Hill, Violet Hill and Middle Island. As per Forbes (July 2015), with 19 of the city's ri ...

. 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.

References

External links

Financial Secretary
{{Financial Secretary (Hong Kong) Positions of the Hong Kong Government *