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advice of the EFAC. The details of the management of the fund and the investment style adopted are set out and explained in the HKMA's annual report. A Strategic Portfolio was set up in 2007 to hold all the shares of HKEx acquired for strategic purposes by the Financial Secretary using the Exchange Fund.

On December 31, 2010, the Exchange Fund's total assets stood at $2,345.0 billion. The accumulated surplus of the Exchange Fund amounted to $591.5 billion. Foreign currency asset figures have been published monthly since January 1997 to demonstrate the Government's continued commitment to greater openness and transparency. In addition, an abridged balance sheet of the Exchange Fund and a set of Currency Board accounts are published monthly.

Another function related to the Exchange Fund is currency issuance. Bank notes in denominations of $20, $50, $100, $500 and $1,000 are issued by the three note issuing banks: Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited, the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited and the Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited. The note-issuing banks may issue currency notes only by surrendering non-interest bearing US dollar backing at a fixed exchange rate of $7.80.

Through the HKMA, the Government issues $10 currency notes and coins of $10, $5, $2, $1, 50 cents, 20 cents and 10 cents denominations. The Hong Kong $10 polymer note was put into circulation in July 2007. The value of all notes and coins in circulation at year's end was $235.4 billion.

Websites

Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau: www.fstb.gov.hk Office of the Commissioner of Insurance: www.oci.gov.hk Official Receiver's Office: www.oro.gov.hk

Companies Registry: www.cr.gov.hk

Hong Kong Monetary Authority: www.hkma.gov.hk Securities and Futures Commission: www.sfc.hk

SFC Investor Education Portal: www.invested.hk

Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority: www.mpfa.org.hk Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited: www.hkex.com.hk Financial Reporting Council: www.frc.org.hk