The first year of the HKMA's London Office

inSight

05 Oct 2000

The first year of the HKMA's London Office

The HKMA's London Representative Office recently celebrated its first anniversary. The Chief Representative in London, Josie Wong, looks back on its first year of operation.

"928" is not just an auspicious number for the HKMA London Representative Office. It was this date (28 September) last year that our Chief Executive, Joseph Yam, officiated at the opening of our office in London.

The first anniversary of our office is particularly meaningful to me. I arrived in London fifteen months ago with a mandate to build an office from scratch. With few contacts, I was largely a stranger to the City of London. Today, I am pleased to see that we have a modest yet well equipped office with a small trading room and good presence in the London financial market.

The decision to establish a London Representative Office was made in 1998 after the attack on the Hong Kong markets. The office bridges the time gap between Hong Kong and New York, where our first overseas representative office was established in 1996, and enables the HKMA to ensure the stability of the Hong Kong dollar by offering the Convertibility Undertaking round the clock. As the world's largest foreign exchange centre, London has an active Hong Kong dollar market with trading volume sometimes well in excess of that in Hong Kong. Many corporate and fund managers in Europe and in America have a natural interest in the Hong Kong dollar because of their presence in Hong Kong or their investments in Hong Kong dollar assets. Such commercial interests, together with proprietary trading activities, form the basis of an active Hong Kong dollar market. The London Hong Kong dollar market is particularly active on days when the Hong Kong market is closed. Indeed, the Convertibility Undertaking was triggered on the very first day we started operations, 1 October 1999.

Our establishment is small, with only four staff. Lean and mean though our structure may be, we have a wide range of responsibilities. We take an active role in explaining monetary and financial developments in Hong Kong and dispelling misconceptions. We enjoy regular dialogue with academics, economists, rating agencies, and major market players, including commercial banks, investment houses, hedge funds and real money funds. This allows us to gauge the general sentiment towards Hong Kong markets.

It has been a particular special time to be in London in the past year with the introduction of the euro, the recent establishment of the European Central Bank and the planned enlargement of the European Union. Working in the heart of the world financial markets allows us to follow closely the European bond and stock markets as well as the global foreign exchange market. It also keeps us abreast of financial and economic developments in Europe and allows us to consider how such developments may impact on Hong Kong. On the liaison and representational front, we go far beyond London. In the past twelve months, we travelled some 4,000 miles, covering major financial centres in continental Europe, from Paris to Frankfurt and from Basle to Rome, representing the HKMA at meetings at the Bank of England, the OECD, the European Central Bank, the Bundesbank, the Bank for International Settlements and the Asian Development Bank.

Looking ahead, we shall step up our efforts in strengthening ties with our counterparts in Continental Europe and monitoring the financial and economic developments within the European Union (EU), such as the admission of Greece into the eurozone, the preparation for the circulation of euro notes and coins in 2002 and the enlargement of the EU. In London, we shall seek to co-operate with other Asian central banks in promoting the Asian economies to the markets and investors. It is going to be another year full of new challenges for all of us in London.

 

Josie Wong
Chief Representative
HKMA London Representative Office
5 October 2000

 

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Last revision date : 04 August 2011