HKMA Chief Executive Joseph Yam to retire

Responding to the Financial Secretary's announcement today (Tuesday) of his retirement from the post of Monetary Authority, Mr Joseph Yam said that he had greatly enjoyed his time in the post.

"It has been a great honour to serve the people of Hong Kong as Monetary Authority since 1993. Hong Kong has been through considerable change in the past 16 years and has weathered a series of crises and challenges. I am very pleased that, with the support of the various Financial Secretaries over the years, and of the community, my colleagues and I have been able to maintain and develop Hong Kong's monetary and financial systems, which have proved their robustness and continue to provide a firm basis for stability in the future," Mr Yam said.

Mr Yam also paid tribute to his colleagues in the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). "The key to the HKMA's effectiveness is the professionalism and hard work of its staff, and it has been a real privilege to serve with such excellent and dedicated colleagues," Mr Yam said. He added that he looked forward to continuing to work with them in the coming few months and said that he had every confidence that the HKMA would continue to meet whatever challenges it might face in the future in the best interests of the people of Hong Kong.

For further enquiries, please contact:
Thomas Chan, Communications Chief, at 2878 1480 or
Hing-fung Wong, Manager (Communications), at 2878 1802

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
19 May 2009