A trading fund is an

executive agency An executive agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate, to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government or Nort ...

government department Ministry or department (also less commonly used secretariat, office, or directorate) are designations used by first-level executive bodies in the machinery of governments that manage a specific sector of public administration." Энцикло ...

or often simply a part of a department, that enables the department to handle its own revenues and expenses separately from overall government finances and more like a business, as opposed to having to obtain funding from the government's legislature and feeding income back into its treasury. A Hong Kong governmental study of trading funds in the UK and Hong Kong describes their nature and purpose as follows: Each country has its own specific laws and regulations controlling the establishment and use of trading funds. Trading funds in the UK were initially established through the

Government Trading Funds Act 1973 A trading fund is an executive agency, government department or often simply a part of a department, that enables the department to handle its own revenues and expenses separately from overall government finances and more like a business, as opposed ...

, and modified by the Government Trading Act 1990, along with other modifications through finance legislation. In 1993,

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

followed suit with its Trading Funds Ordinance of that year. Establishment and operation of a Hong Kong trading fund is subject to decisions made by the Legislative Council on the recommendation of the Financial Secretary. The significance of a UK trading fund is that it has standing authority under the 1973 Act to use its receipts to meet its expenses or outgoings. Some trading funds have, as their main function, the collection and supply of information to both public and private sectors; others do not. Also in the UK, a trading fund can only be established with the agreement of

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ec ...

. To establish a fund, more than 50% of the trading fund's revenue will consist of receipts for goods and services provided by the department, and where the responsible minister and the Treasury are satisfied that the setting up of the trading fund will lead to "improved efficiency and effectiveness in management of operations".

List of trading funds

Date of establishment as trading fund is shown:

United Kingdom

Current

Companies House Companies House is the executive agency of the company registrars of the United Kingdom, falling under the remit of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. All forms of companies (as permitted by the Companies Act) are ...

- 1 October 1991 *

Crown Commercial Service The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) is an executive agency and trading fund of the Cabinet Office of the UK Government. The CCS is responsible for managing the procurement of common goods and services, increasing savings for the taxpayer by centr ...

- 1 April 1991 (first known as the Buying Agency, then OGCbuying.solutions, then Buying Solutions, then the Government Procurement Service) *

Driver & Vehicle Agency The Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) ( ga, An Ghníomhaireacht Tiománaithe agus Feithiclí) is a government agency of the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland. The agency is responsible for conducting vehicle testing, driver test ...

(DVA) - 1 April 2007 (owned by the

Northern Ireland Executive The Northern Ireland Executive is the devolved government of Northern Ireland, an administrative branch of the legislature – the Northern Ireland Assembly. It is answerable to the assembly and was initially established according to the t ...

) *

FCDO Services The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreig ...

- 1 April 2008 *

HM Land Registry His Majesty's Land Registry is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's Government, created in 1862 to register the ownership of land and property in England and Wales. It reports to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strat ...

- 1 April 1993 * Intellectual Property Office - 1 October 1991 (first known as the Patent Office) *

Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care in the United Kingdom which is responsible for ensuring that medicines and medical devices work and are acceptabl ...

(MHRA) - 1 April 2003 *

Meteorological Office The Meteorological Office, abbreviated as the Met Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and is led by CEO Penelope ...

- 1 April 1996 *

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was ...

- 1 April 1999 (became holding entity of Ordnance Survey Ltd on 1 April 2015 ) * Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre - 1 April 1997 *

Registers of Scotland Registers of Scotland (RoS) is the non-ministerial department of the Scottish Government responsible for compiling and maintaining records relating to property and other legal documents. They currently maintain 20 public registers. The official re ...

- 1 April 1996 (owned by the Scottish Government) *

Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by His Majesty's Treasury and is under an exclu ...

- 1 April 1975 (became holding entity of Royal Mint Ltd on 31 December 2009) *

United Kingdom Hydrographic Office The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) is the UK's agency for providing hydrographic and marine geospatial data to mariners and maritime organisations across the world. The UKHO is a trading fund of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and is ...

(UKHO) - 1 April 1996

Defence Science and Technology Laboratory The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) is an executive agency of the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is "to maximise the impact of science and technology for the defence and security of the UK". The a ...

(Dstl) - 1 July 2001 (became an

Executive Agency An executive agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate, to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government or Nort ...

on 1 April 2016) *

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA; cy, Asiantaeth Trwyddedu Gyrwyr a Cherbydau) is the organization, organisation of the Government of the United Kingdom, UK government responsible for maintaining a database of drivers in Great Br ...

(DVLA) - 1 April 2004 (trading fund status removed on 1 April 2011) *

Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is an executive agency of the UK Department for Transport (DfT). It carries out driving tests, approves people to be driving instructors and MOT testers, carries out tests to make sure lorries an ...

(DVSA) - 1 April 2015 (trading fund status removed on 1 April 2021)

Defunct

Army Base Repair Organisation The Army Base Repair Organisation (ABRO) was an executive agency which reported to the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence. It provided engineering, repair and re-manufacturing services to the British Armed Forces and also to the police and som ...

(ABRO) – 1 April 2002 (merged with DARA to form DSG on 1 April 2008) * Central Office of Information (COI) – 1 April 1991 (abolished in March 2012) * Chessington Computer Centre – 1 April 1993 (privatised in July 1996) * Crown Suppliers - 1 April 1976 (first known as the Supplies Division of the

Property Services Agency The Property Services Agency (PSA) was an agency of the United Kingdom government, in existence from 1972 to 1993. Its role was to “provide, manage, maintain, and furnish the property used by the government, including defence establishments, offi ...

and abolished in March 1991) *

Defence Aviation Repair Agency The Defence Aviation Repair Agency, better known as DARA, was an executive agency of the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence, responsible for the maintenance and repair of Royal Air Force, Army and the Royal Navy's aircraft. It became part of the ...

(DARA) - 1 April 2001 (merged with ABRO to form DSG on 1 April 2008) * Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) - 1 April 1995 (split into Dstl and Qinetiq on 1 July 2001) *

Defence Research Agency The Defence Research Agency (DRA) was an executive agency of the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) from April 1991 until April 1995. At the time, the DRA was Britain's largest science and technology organisation. In April 1995, the DRA was combine ...

(DRA) - 1 April 1993 (became part of DERA on 1 April 1995) * Defence Support Group (DSG) - 1 April 2008 (privatised in April 2015) *

Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency The Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) ( ga, An Ghníomhaireacht Tiománaithe agus Feithiclí) is a government agency of the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland. The agency is responsible for conducting vehicle testing, driver test ...

(DVTA) - 1 April 1996 (merged with Driver and Vehicle Licensing Northern Ireland to form DVA on 1 April 2007) *

Driving Standards Agency The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) was an executive agency of the UK Department for Transport (DfT). DSA promoted road safety in Great Britain by improving driving and motorcycling standards. It set standards for education and training, as w ...

(DSA) - 1 April 1997 (merged with VOSA to form the DVSA on 1 April 2015) * Fire Service College (FSC) - 1 April 1992 (privatised in February 2013) *

Forensic Science Service The Forensic Science Service (FSS) was a government-owned company in the United Kingdom which provided forensic science services to the police forces and government agencies of England and Wales, as well as other countries. The UK Governme ...

(FSS) - 1 April 1999 (became government-owned company in December 2005) * HM Stationery Office (HMSO) - 1 April 1980 (privatised as

The Stationery Office The Stationery Office (TSO) is a British publishing company created in 1996 when the publishing arm of His Majesty's Stationery Office was privatised. It is the official publisher and the distributor for legislation, command and house papers ...

in September 1996) *

Medicines Control Agency The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care in the United Kingdom which is responsible for ensuring that medicines and medical devices work and are acceptably ...

(MCA) - 1 April 1993 (merged with

Medical Devices Agency The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care in the United Kingdom which is responsible for ensuring that medicines and medical devices work and are acceptably ...

to form MHRA on 1 April 2003) * NHS Estates - 1 April 1999 (abolished in September 2005) *

Royal Ordnance Factories Royal Ordnance Factories (ROFs) was the collective name of the UK government's munitions factories during and after the Second World War. Until privatisation, in 1987, they were the responsibility of the Ministry of Supply, and later the Minis ...

- 1 July 1974 (privatised as Royal Ordnance in April 1987) * Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) - 1 April 2003 (merged with the DSA to form the DVSA on 1 April 2015) * Vehicle Inspectorate - 1 April 1991 (merged with Traffic Area Network to form VOSA on 1 April 2003)

Hong Kong

* Companies Registry – 1 August 1993 * Electrical and Mechanical Services - 1 August 1996 Resolution of the Legislative Council under sections 3, 4 and 6 of the Trading Fund Ordinance (Cap. 430) made on 26 June 1996
accessed 25 December 2018 *

Hongkong Post Hongkong Post is a government department of Hong Kong responsible for postal services, though operated as a trading fund. Founded in 1841, it was known as ''Postal Department'' or ''Post Office'' () before the handover of Hong Kong in 1997 ...

- 1 August 1995 *

Land Registry Land registration is any of various systems by which matters concerning ownership, possession, or other rights in land are formally recorded (usually with a government agency or department) to provide evidence of title, facilitate transactions, ...

- 1 August 1993 *

Office of the Telecommunications Authority The Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA) is an executive arm of the Communications Authority in Hong Kong. It is the body responsible for telecommunications regulation (through the Regulatory Affairs Branch), antitrust enforcement (thr ...

(OFTA) - 1 June 1995 * Sewage Services - 11 March 1994 (trading fund status removed on 31 March 1998)

References