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Bank Notes Issue (A) Bill
The Bank Notes Issue (Amendment) Bill 1995 was published in the Gazette. today (Friday).
A government spokesman said the main purpose of the Bill was to modify the legal framework for the issue of legal tender currency notes so that it would be consistent with the provisions in the Sino-British Joint Declaration (JD) and the Basic Law (BL).
He said the Bill would provide for the statutory authority for the Government to issue currency notes.
"This is merely to make the Bank Notes Issue Ordinance consistent with the provisions in the JD and the BL. The Government has no intention of taking over the note-issuing function from the note-issuing banks," he said.
Consistent with this proposed amendment. the backing mechanism for the issue of bank notes would be extended to the currency notes, if any, issued by the Government.
The Bill would also provide an explicit power for the Financial Secretary, with the approval of the Governor-in-Council, to authorise banks to issue bank notes, as required by the JD and the BL. Such power was not explicitly provided in the existing statutory provisions.
"The three existing note-issuing banks will deem to have been authorised when the Ordinance comes into effect," the spokesman said.
The spokesman said the Bill also sought to enable the Financial Secretary to stipulate the terms and conditions for authorising a note-issuing bank, which would cover those aspects relating to the design, denomination, means of production, distribution, quantity, safe-keeping and destruction of the legal tender bank notes.
End/Friday, October 6, 1995