LegCo Paper No. CB(1) 117/96-97
Ref : CB1/PL/FA/1

LegCo Panel on Financial Affairs

Minutes of Meeting
held on Wednesday, 2 October 1996 at 9:00 a.m.
in the Chamber of the Legislative Council Building

Members present :

    Dr Hon HUANG Chen-ya, MBE (Chairman)
    Hon Eric LI Ka-cheung, OBE, JP (Deputy Chairman)
    Hon Martin LEE, QC, JP
    Hon Ronald ARCULLI, OBE, JP
    Hon CHIM Pui-chung
    Hon James TO Kun-sun
    Dr Hon Philip WONG Yu-hong
    Hon Andrew CHENG Kar-foo
    Hon Paul CHENG Ming-fun
    Hon Ambrose LAU Hon-chuen, JP
    Dr Hon LAW Cheung-kwok
    Hon NGAN Kam-chuen
    Hon SIN Chung-kai
    Hon Mrs Elizabeth WONG, CBE, ISO, JP

Member absent :

    Hon David K P LI, OBE, LLD (Cantab), JP

Clerk in attendance :

Ms Estella CHAN
Chief Assistant Secretary (1)4

Staff in attendance :

Miss Pauline NG
Assistant Secretary General 1
Miss Anita SIT
Senior Assistant Secretary (1)6
Mr Daniel HUI
Senior Assistant Secretary (1)7

I Election of Chairman and Deputy Chairman

Dr Hon HUANG Chen-ya referred to the list of Government Advisory Bodies relevant to the terms of reference of the Panel and invited members to note that in accordance with Standing Order 60E(6), those who were Chairmen/Deputy Chairmen of these advisory bodies would not be eligible to stand for election.

2. Dr Hon HUANG Chen-ya and Hon Eric LI Ka-cheung were elected Chairman and Deputy Chairman respectively for the 1996-97 session.

II Terms of reference

3. Members agreed that there should be no changes to the current terms of reference of the Panel.

III Schedule of meetings for the 1996-97 session

4. Members agreed that regular meetings of the Panel would be held on the first Monday of each month at 8:30 am.

5. Members noted that briefings by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Secretary for the Treasury on the Governor’s 1996 policy address would be held at a meeting of the Panel scheduled for Monday, 7 October 1996 at 8:30 am. As a number of members indicated that they would not be able to attend the meeting on that day, members agreed that the meeting be rescheduled for Thursday, 10 October 1996 at 10:00 am subject to the Administration’s agreement.

(Post-meeting note: Members were informed that the policy briefings would be held on Thursday, 10 October 1996 at 10:00 am vide LegCo Paper No. CB(1) 5/96-97 dated 3 October 1996.)

6. Members also agreed that the next Panel meeting after the policy briefings would be held on Monday, 14 October 1996 at 8:30 am.

IV Items for discussion at the next meeting

7. Members noted the list of outstanding items for discussion and agreed that the progress of the preparation work for the Mandatory Provident Fund System be discussed at the next meeting after the policy briefings.

(Post-meeting Note: At the request of the Administration and with the concurrence of the Chairman, the meeting was postponed to Monday, 4 November 1996 at 8:30 am.)

8. Members agreed that the progress of the drafting of the Securities and Futures Bill be discussed at a future Panel meeting.

9. Some members suggested that the Panel should look into the issue of speculation on the Hong Kong dollar, which was fairly widely covered in the media recently. While members agreed that the issue was within the purview of the Panel and was of wide public concern, they noted the concern that it might not be fruitful to discuss the issue at an open Panel meeting in view of the constraints on the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in revealing its strategies for stablizing the Hong Kong dollar exchange rate. The Chairman undertook to liaise with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority regarding the appropriate form of discussion on the issue.

Chairman

V Any other business

Provision of information papers

10. The Chairman suggested and members agreed that the Secretary for Financial Services and the Secretary for the Treasury be advised of the following with regard to the provision of information papers for Panel meetings:

CAS(1)4
  1. the need for documents to be provided simultaneously in Chinese and English to the Panel one week before the meetings;
  2. the need for documents to be made available as early as possible in respect of urgent meetings where only short notice can be given; and
  3. that the tabling of documents at meetings should be avoided as far as possible.

The meeting ended at 9:30 am

Legislative Council Secretariat
11 October 1996

Last Updated on 18 August 1998