Hans Genberg

Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is the government authority in Hong Kong which was established in 1993 by merging the Office of the Exchange Fund with the Office of the Commissioner of Banking. The HKMA reports to the Financial Secretary and is responsible for maintaining Hong Kong's monetary and banking stability. Based in Hong Kong, the Authority aims to keep the Hong Kong dollar stable by managing the Exchange Fund (Hong Kong's official reserves) in a sound and effective way, to promote the safety of Hong Kong's banking system and to develop Hong Kong's financial infrastructure to enable money to flow smoothly, freely and without obstruction. The Exchange Fund's statutory roles include affecting the exchange value of the currency of Hong Kong and maintaining the stability and integrity of the monetary and financial systems, with a view to maintaining Hong Kong as an international financial center. The HKMA manages the Exchange Fund, ensuring that the fund meets its statutory roles and actively managing the fund's assets, mainly held in the form of foreign denominated interest-bearing instruments and equities. To meet the operational needs of the Government, part of the Exchange Fund is also held in Hong Kong dollar denominated securities. The Exchange Fund is managed as two distinct portfolios. The first is a Backing Portfolio to ensure that the monetary base related to the Currency Board operations is fully backed by highly liquid, short-term U.S. dollar denominated interest-bearing securities. The second is an Investment Portfolio to preserve the fund's value for future generations in Hong Kong.