Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau

History

Financial Services Bureau was established on 1 July 1997. The previous form is Financial Services Branch under colonial Hong Kong, headed by the Secretary for Financial Services.

Finance Bureau was established on 1 July 1997. The previous form is Finance Branch under colonial Hong Kong, headed by the Secretary for the Treasury.

Financial Services Bureau and Finance Bureau were merged to become Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau on 1 July 2002, headed by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury. A Financial Services Branch and a Treasury Branch were created within the Bureau, each headed by a permanent secretary of D8 rank on the Directorate Pay Scale.

In March 2021, the FSTB announced proposed changes to the Companies Registry, where information on companies would begin to be hidden. In response, David Webb said that such changes "will facilitate corruption, fraud and other crimes." The New York Times also said that those changes could potentially benefit Chinese Communist Party officials, as families of top officials had bought property in Hong Kong using companies.

In December 2022, the FSTB announced that it would seek to regulate crowdfunding in Hong Kong, suggesting that all campaigns file an application before launching.

Official Receiver's Office

Official Receiver's Office (ORO, ) is a government department within the bureau. They are responsible for statutory functions relating to insolvency, by being the role of liquidator and trustee of last resort in the administration of both corporate and personal insolvency cases respectively.

The Office was established on 1 June 1992, taking over the powers and perform the duties of the Insolvency Division of the then Registrar General's Department. According to Bankruptcy Ordinance (Cap. 6), once the court make a bankruptcy order, the Official Receiver will become the provisional trustee of the property of the bankrupt, and become the liquidator under the Companies (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap. 32) to conduct personal or company compulsory liquidations.

Past Secretaries

• Treasury affairs
  • Deputy Financial Secretary (1945–1989)
  • Secretary for the Treasury (1997–2002)
  • Treasury affairs were handled by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury since 2002
• Financial services affairs
  • Secretary for Monetary Affairs (1976–1993)
  • Secretary for Financial Services (1993–2002)
  • Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (2002–present)

References

References

1. Candice Chau. (2021-03-30). "Hong Kong to block public access to private company information".
2. Stevenson, Alexandra. (2021-04-07). "Hong Kong Courts the Rich as China Tightens Its Grip". The New York Times.
3. Chau, Candice. (2022-12-20). "Regulation of crowdfunding needed to plug gaps in laws, says Hong Kong's John Lee as public consultation launched".
4. (2022-04-06). "Welcome Message - Official Receiver's Office".
5. (2022-04-06). "Companies Registry - Fact Sheets".