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Bank Notes Issue (Amendment) Bill 1995
Following is the speech by the Secretary for Financial Services, Mr Rafael Hui, in moving the second reading of the Bank Notes Issue (Amendment) Bill 1995 in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Mr President,
time.
I move that the Bank Notes Issue (Amendment) Bill 1995 be read a second
The purpose of the Bill is to modify the legal framework for the issue of legal tender currency notes so that it will consistent with the provisions in the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law.
The Joint Declaration and the Basic Law explicitly state that the authority to issue Hong Kong currency shall be vested in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and that the Special Administrative Region Government may authorise designed banks to issue or continue to issue Hong Kong currency under statutory authority.
The current Bank Notes Issue Ordinance does not provide the statutory power for Government to issue currency notes. Nor does the Ordinance provide a specific power for the Government to authorise designated banks to issue currency notes.
To be consistent with the provisions in the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law, we consider that the Ordinance should be amended to provide for the following:
a) the statutory authority for the Government to issue currency;
b) the statutory authority for the Government to authorise banks to issue or
continue to issue currency;
c) a mechanism for backing the currency notes issued by the Government, if
any; and
d) the statutory authority for the Government to control the arrangements in
relation to currency issue.
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