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 (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
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
A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...
and the
Chief Executive
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization.
CEOs find roles in variou ...
(the
Governor
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before the 1997
handover
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) 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.
List of secretaries
Secretaries and treasurers to the Superintendent, 1842–1844
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Edward Elmslie, 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. 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
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References
External links
Financial Secretary
{{Financial Secretary (Hong Kong)
Positions of the Hong Kong Government
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