FINANCIAL AND MONETARY AFFAIRS
November 1995. At the end of 1995, total outstanding Exchange Fund Bills and Notes amounted to $59 billion.
Exchange Fund Bills and Notes are welcomed by the banking community as risk- free assets for liquidity management. Trading in these instruments has been highly active, with daily turnover reaching $17 billion in 1995, equivalent to 31 per cent of the average outstanding amount. The high turnover of the paper has rendered it one of the most actively traded government securities in the world.
A recent HKMA policy initiative is to encourage the supply of high-quality private debt issues in Hong Kong. The HKMA has broadened the scope of Repo securities for discounting under the LAF to some high quality Hong Kong dollar private debt issues in addition to Exchange Fund Bills and Notes. At the end of 1995, 14 issues totalling $26.3 billion were accepted as LAF-eligible Repo securities.
Increased sophistication of the Hong Kong debt market was evident not only in an increase in the size of debt issues, but also in the increasing variety of debt instruments available in Hong Kong. A notable development has been the issue of asset-backed securities. After the launch of four issues of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) in Hong Kong in 1994, the market quietened down in 1995, with only two asset-securitisation issues: a car-loan backed debt issue and single-property backed securities. In 1994, the HKMA convened an informal group of representatives of prominent financial institutions to discuss issues relating to the development of the secondary mortgage market. The group's report, issued in July 1995, recommended that a simple issue structure and reduced heterogeneity among different issues would assist in market development.
The World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings in 1997
Hong Kong will host the 52nd Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from September 23 to 25, 1997. In July 1995, the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council approved a budget of $485 million for the meetings. A steering committee has been set up under the Financial Secretary and planning for this prestigious event is well under way.
Companies Registry
The Companies Registry administers and enforces the Companies Ordinance. It incorporates local companies, registers overseas companies, registers documents required to be submitted by registered companies and provides facilities for the search of company records. It also administers and enforces several other ordinances including the Trustee Ordinance, as this relates to trust companies, the Registered Trustees Incorporation Ordinance and the Limited Partnerships Ordinance.
Since 1993, the Companies Registry has operated as a trading-funded department. Unlike a vote-funded department, the registry can keep part of its income and apply it flexibly, having regard to its needs, business turnover and its customers' demands and expectations. For the financial year to March 31, 1995, the Companies Registry Trading Fund managed to generate a surplus of $16.5 million, $11.1 million more than the budgeted surplus.
During the year, the registry continued its efforts to improve its services. A new facility, enabling searchers to examine the computerised Register of Disqualification Orders, was introduced in February 1995. The computerised Control Book and
83