Eddie Yue gets 2nd HKMA term to lead Hong Kong's de facto central bank through complexity

Hong Kong's government has appointed Eddie Yue Wai-man to a second five-year term as the city's de facto central banker, entrusting one of the first employees of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) with the job of charting a course through a complex financial landscape.

The second term for Yue, who joined the HKMA during its establishment in 1993, will commence in October, according to a statement.

"I am confident that Eddie will continue to lead the HKMA effectively in the coming five years, and make further contributions to Hong Kong's financial, economic and social progress," said Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, in announcing the reappointment of his fellow alumnus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK).

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Yue's first term coincided with one of the most tumultuous periods in Hong Kong's financial history, when interest rates soared from zero to a 13-year high of 5.75 per cent while the local economy was battered by street protests in 2019, followed by three years of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Under the leadership of Eddie, the HKMA has maintained the stability of Hong Kong's money market and banking system" and worked with other regulators to safeguard the city's financial security during the challenging time, Chan said.

The Exchange Fund, used for defending the local currency's four-decade peg to the US dollar, "has also achieved investment income commensurate with its objectives despite considerable uncertainties in the global environment," Chan said.

Yue worked hard to charm Wall Street and European bankers, persuading them to remain or return to Hong Kong despite their trepidation amid deteriorating US-China relations. His brainchild was an annual gathering of financiers called the Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit, scheduled for its third annual edition this November.

The first edition in November 2022 took place hot on the heels of Hong Kong dropping the city's harsh pandemic-era travel and quarantine restrictions. Up to 200 chairpersons and chief executives showed up. The second edition, coinciding with the HKMA's 30th anniversary, attracted 300 executives from 90 global banks and financial firms.

Yue, who switched to studying business administration from biochemistry at CUHK, also elevated the international profile of the HKMA chief executive's role. He was named the chairman of the BIS Meeting of Governors from Major Emerging Market Economies (EMEs) last September for three years. Since 1998, Hong Kong has been the Asia-Pacific regional office of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), which is known as the bank for global central banks.

He directed the HKMA to work more closely with the central banks and financial regulators around Southeast Asia and the Middle East. He was in Beijing earlier this week with Chan to meet Xia Baolong, the Chinese government's top official on Hong Kong and Macau affairs.

Under his watch, Hong Kong also made headways with the city's push into financial technology, or fintech. Eight digital banks were licensed since 2000, attracting 2.2 million customers at the end of last year, out of a city of 7.5 million people.

A trial of the central bank's digital currency (CBDC) called the e-HKD is underway, while the city has also offered itself to be the testing ground for the Chinese central bank's digital fiat currency, called the e-CNY.

A wholesale version of the CBDC for trade financing is also being tested in the city. The HKMA in June signed an agreement with France to be the first non-European central bank to join a trial in cross-border remittances and tokenised asset trades on the continent.

The career civil servant's pay will rise by 5.7 per cent in his second term to around HK$7.4 million (US$947,900), not counting a variable pay akin to a bonus of up to HK$2.3 million, according to the Post's calculations.

"I am honoured to be given the opportunity to continue to serve Hong Kong in this important role and grateful for the Financial Secretary's confidence and trust in me," Yue said today in a statement. "Looking ahead, the macroeconomic environment, the international financial landscape, and geopolitics are likely to remain complex and uncertain for some time. My team and I will remain vigilant and make every effort to keep things on an even keel and promote further development."

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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