Author Archives: hksar gov

     The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, met the Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Professor Petteri Taalas, at the Chief Executive’s Office this morning (October 3). The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Edward Yau, was also present.

     Mrs Lam welcomed Professor Taalas’ visit to Hong Kong again and extended her congratulations to the WMO on being awarded the Welfare Betterment Prize of the Lui Che Woo Prize 2018 in recognition of the work of the WMO over the years which has contributed to the mitigation of the impact of natural disasters on humans.

     Mrs Lam said that Hong Kong, which has been a member of the WMO since 1948, has actively taken part in the Organization’s work. She said that the incumbent Director of Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) and the Permanent Representative of Hong Kong, China with the WMO, Mr Shun Chi-ming, was the first Asian person to be the President of the WMO’s Commission for Aeronautical Meteorology and that his presidency ended earlier after eight years of remarkable service.

     Mrs Lam noted that the HKO and the WMO yesterday (October 2) signed a Memorandum of Understanding which will further strengthen meteorological co-operation between both parties with the support by the HKO for the WMO’s initiative in establishing the Global Multi-hazard Alert System. Mrs Lam said that the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) attaches great importance to the work in combating climate change and will proactively meet the commitments of the Paris Agreement, which applies to the HKSAR. Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan 2030+ was released at the beginning of last year and sets out in detail the measures on mitigation, adaptation and resilience in regard to combating climate change. She added that Hong Kong has expertise and rich experience in city management and dealing with natural disasters and that the city is pleased to help and share experience in capacity building with emerging economies.

    

     Police today (October 3) appealed to the public for information on a man who went missing in Ma On Shan.      Leung Pak-on, aged 34, went missing after he left his residence in Heng On Estate on… read more

     A man who went missing in Tseung Kwan O was located.      Tam Ching-kwok, aged 41, went missing after he left his residence on Tong Tak Street on September 8 morning. His family made a report to… read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) hosted the second annual Conference for Independent Non-Executive Directors (the Conference) today (October 3) in Hong Kong.
 
     Building on the success of the inaugural conference last year, this year’s Conference was a continuation of the HKMA’s effort to equip and empower Independent Non-Executive Directors (INEDs) to perform a more effective role on the boards of banks in Hong Kong.  The Conference was attended by nearly 80% of all INEDs of the banking industry.
 
     At the Conference, the Chief Executive of the HKMA, Mr Norman Chan, remarked that “Promoting sound culture in the banking sector is important because regulation and supervision are more effective in prescribing what constitutes unacceptable behaviours or outcomes, but much less so in defining and driving what is good and desirable.  A bank and its staff must internalise good culture and values in such a way that they behave properly not because they are afraid of being caught and punished by the supervisors or the law enforcement agencies but because they think it is unethical to do otherwise.”
      
     Member of the Board of Directors of the Dubai Financial Services Authority and former Superintendent of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions of Canada, Ms Julie Dickson, delivered a keynote speech on “Implementation of Sustainable Culture”.  She took the view that INEDs play an important role in driving the sustainability of sound culture in banks.  They can be lulled into a false sense of security that culture is sound, fail to react quickly enough when problems are identified, and may also underestimate forces leading to cultural weakness.  Therefore, they should always stay alert and should not understate their responsibility in upholding sound culture in banks.
 
     The Chief Executive Officer of the Banking Standards Board (BSB) in the United Kingdom, Ms Alison Cottrell, also shared her view on the “Assessment of Bank Culture”.  Ms Cottrell observed that there is no one template of what a “good” bank culture should look like; each firm will have its own identity and culture reflecting its own history, leadership, people and many other factors. Despite these differences, banks can use comparative data and evidence to help them assess and manage their own culture and raise standards across the sector. She described how this approach is being undertaken in the United Kingdom banking sector, with the BSB providing Boards with objective and comparative evidence on different parts of their organisation, over time and relative to other firms.

Other speakers attending the Conference included:
 

• The Global Chief Investment Officer of State Street Global Advisors, Mr Richard Lacaille, who talked about short-termism in the banking industry.He highlighted the need to address possible causes for short-termism including unsustainable culture, inappropriate incentives, poor governance, and outside pressure.
• The Chief Executive Officer of Ping An Technology, Mr Ericson Chan, who spoke on how technology like blockchain, cloud computing and artificial intelligence would impact financial services.He was joined by the Executive Director (Banking Supervision) of the HKMA, Mr Raymond Chan, who shared his views on the application of RegTech and SupTech, as well as how INEDs could play a role in helping banks cope with technological changes.

            

     September 2018 was marked by the ferocious strike of severe typhoon Mangkhut, which necessitated the issuance of the No. 10 Hurricane Signal in Hong Kong for 10 hours on September 16. This is the second longest duration of the … read more