CONFIDENTIAL
pursue this option and were prepared to accept/risk the consequences in Hong Kong.
12.
There is agreement that this option, if feasible, would meet our objectives with HMOCS members. Departments differ on the political feasibility of the proposal. FCO and ODA accept the Governor's judgement that LegCo would refuse to vote the funds, and consider that for Ministers to
direct the Governor to overrule LegCo on a financial issue of this kind would precipitate a political crisis which could make Hong Kong ungovernable.
Commercial Loan
13.
сваіміта
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No assessment
HKG have commissioned a consultancy report on a scheme to enable all Civil Servants to take out loans against a
part of their pension entitlements. The attractiveness of such a scheme to HMOCS members would depend upon how much
HMG was prepared to subsidise the costs. Points in favour of this scheme are that it could place a finite liability on
HMG to safeguard HMOCS pensions (assuming that financial
institutions instructions were willing to operate it without a sovereign
guarantee by HMG). It would also offer HMOCS pensioners an
option to safeguard part of their pensions although one that they might feel was totally inadequate.
has yet been made of the level of financial support which
would be necessary from HMG to make a scheme viable.
potential attraction is that such a scheme could be
applicable to all Hong Kong Civil Servants, even if HMG topped up the loans to HMOCS officers. It could, however,
prove divisive if a scheme for local officers was ruled out by HKG or if local officers were given a much less generous
scheme. We would not expect insuperable difficulties with the Chinese. Experts need to consider further whether this
option could be turned into a viable scheme, and if so at
what cost. HKG would need to consider whether a variant
tailored to HMOCS would cause resentment among local Civil
Servants, and if so, what they could do about it.
NFJABA/6
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