Joseph Yam
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Joseph Yam Chi-kwong, GBM, GBS,
CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
, JP (任志剛; born 1948, Hong Kong)"Home return" experiences
/ref> is a Hong Kong statistician, economist and civil servant. He was the first Chief Executive of the
Hong Kong Monetary Authority The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is the central bank, central banking institution of Hong Kong. It is a government authority founded on 1 April 1993 when the Office of the Exchange Fund and the Office of the Commissioner of Banking merge ...
, Hong Kong's ''de facto'' central bank, holding the position for 16 years. In 2011 Yam was elected to a member of the board of directors of the Swiss Bank UBS AG. In 2014, following UBS AG's restructuring, he was appointed to the board of directors of the UBS Group AG and served in the position till May 2017. He has been a member of the Corporate Culture and Responsibility Committee and the Risk Committee of the UBS Group AG since 2011 and a non-official member of the
Executive Council of Hong Kong The Executive Council of Hong Kong (ExCo) is the Cabinet (government), cabinet of the Government of Hong Kong, acting as a formal body of advisers to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong that serves as a core policy-making organ assisting the c ...
since 2017.


Education

Joseph Yam graduated from the
University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...
in economics, social sciences and statistics with first class honors in 1970.


Career

Yam joined the
Government of Hong Kong The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government) is the executive authorities of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 July 1997, following the handover of Hong Kong. ...
as a statistician in 1971 and became an economist in 1976. Subsequently, in 1982, Yam was appointed as Principal Assistant Secretary for Monetary Affairs. In 1983, Yam contributed to formulating the peg between the
Hong Kong dollar The Hong Kong dollar (, sign: HK$; code: HKD) is the official currency of Hong Kong. It is divided into 100 cents. Historically, it was also divided into 1000 mils. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is the monetary authority of Hong Kong an ...
and US dollar. In 1985, he was appointed as Deputy Secretary for Monetary Affairs and in 1991, as a Director of the Office of the Exchange Fund. When the Office of the Exchange Fund merged with the Office of the Commissioner of Banking in 1993 to become the
Hong Kong Monetary Authority The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is the central bank, central banking institution of Hong Kong. It is a government authority founded on 1 April 1993 when the Office of the Exchange Fund and the Office of the Commissioner of Banking merge ...
(HKMA), Yam took the position of Chief Executive of the new body.


Tenure as Chief Executive of HKMA

Yam served as Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority for 16 years, from its inauguration on 1 April 1993 until 30 September 2009. In 1995, the Hong Kong Institute of Bankers voted Yam Banker of the Year. Despite a study conducted by S. K. Tsang, a Professor of Economics in
Hong Kong Baptist University Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) is a public Liberal arts education, liberal arts university with a Christian ethics, Christian education heritage in Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The university was established as Hong Kong Baptist ...
, entitled "A Study of the Linked Exchange Rate System and Policy Options for Hong Kong" and indicating there were weaknesses of the HKD-USD exchange rate peg system during the
1997 Asian financial crisis The 1997 Asian financial crisis gripped much of East Asia, East and Southeast Asia during the late 1990s. The crisis began in Thailand in July 1997 before spreading to several other countries with a ripple effect, raising fears of a worldwide eco ...
, Yam did not amend the narrow-based peg, but defended the Hong Kong dollar by pushing up interest rates. In particular, Yam pushed the overnight Interbank rates up to 280% on 23 October 1997. In an audacious move, the HKMA also bought US$15 billion in stocks amidst the market panic in 1998. The measure restored calm, and consequently succeeded to defend the Hong Kong fixed exchange rate parity against the US dollar. The move was initially criticised by, amongst others,
Alan Greenspan Alan Greenspan (born March 6, 1926) is an American economist who served as the 13th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006. He worked as a private adviser and provided consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates L ...
, who voiced concern in September 1998 that the strategy would fail and erode the credibility of the HKMA. "It turned out that his timing was exquisite," Greenspan later said. "It was a risky action
hich Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...
.. I wouldn't recommend as a general rule for central banks." Yam responded with an open letter, stating his disappointment and defending the decision of the HKMA. In 2007, Yam was the highest paid central banker in the world, with an annual salary of US$1.32 million, about seven times that of the
Chairman of the Federal Reserve The chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is the head of the Federal Reserve, and is the active executive officer of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The chairman presides at meetings of the Board. ...
($191,300)., and approximately three times that of the
President of the European Central Bank The president of the European Central Bank is the head of the European Central Bank (ECB), the main institution responsible for the management of the euro and monetary policy in the Eurozone of the European Union (EU) The current president of ...
(EUR 351,816 in 2008), the
Governor of the Bank of England The governor of the Bank of England is the most senior position in the Bank of England. It is nominally a civil service post, but the appointment tends to be from within the bank, with the incumbent choosing and mentoring a successor. The governor ...
(GBP 290,000 in 2008) and the Governor of the
Bank of Japan The is the central bank of Japan.Louis Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005). "Nihon Ginkō" in The bank is often called for short. It is headquartered in Nihonbashi, Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The said bank is a corporate entity ...
($370,000 in 2007) In 2008, Yam was summoned by a subcommittee of
Legislative Council of Hong Kong The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, colloquially known as LegCo, is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under People's Republic of China, China's "one country, two systems" c ...
in a hearing regarding issues arising from
Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1850. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merril ...
-related Minibonds and structured financial products


Convergence plan

Noticing the pricing differential between shares listed on both the local market (H-shares) and the
Shanghai Stock Exchange The Shanghai Stock Exchange (, SSE) is a stock exchange based in the city of Shanghai, China. It is one of the three stock exchanges operating independently in mainland China, the others being the Beijing Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock ...
(A-shares), Yam pushed for mechanisms to promote greater convergence and arbitrage. Ignoring major obstacles pointed out by local brokers, he is credited with persuading the Government to take a 5.9% stake in the
Hong Kong Stock Exchange The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (, SEHK, also known as Hong Kong Stock Exchange) is a stock exchange based in Hong Kong. It is one of the largest stock exchanges in Asia and the List of major stock exchanges, 9th largest globally by market ...
as leverage, and then pushing the programJake van der Kamp, Monitor, ''
South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remaine ...
'', 30 October 2007
which allowed mainland individuals to buy Hong Kong securities directly by opening foreign-currency accounts at the
Bank of China The Bank of China (BOC; ; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Banco da China'') is a state-owned Chinese Multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Beijing, Beijing, China. It is one of ...
branch in northern
Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...
. The scheme was announced by the
State Administration of Foreign Exchange The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) of the People's Republic of China is an administrative agency under the State Council tasked with drafting rules and regulations governing foreign exchange market activities, and managing the ...
on 20 August 2007, but stalled at the starting gate, when
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
refused to grant permission.


Retirement from public service

On 19 May 2009, Yam confirmed his plan to retire, after having served in his post for 16 years. When it was originally announced in October 2007 that he would retire on 1 October 2009, financial columnist Jake van der Kamp linked Yam's departure with his handling of the A-share and H-share plans which destabilised Hong Kong's economy. Chief Executive Sir Donald Tsang of Hong Kong described Yam as a "comrade in arm icwho acted in concert with the government in 1998 to overcome the Asian financial turmoil and under the present financial tsunami, Hong Kong's banking system has remained stable."


UBS Group AG

In April 2011, Yam was elected to the board of directors of
UBS AG UBS Group AG (stylized simply as UBS) is a multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland, with headquarters in both Zurich and Basel. It holds a strong foothold in all major fina ...
and since 2011 he has been a member of both the Corporate Culture and Responsibility Committee and the Risk Committee. From November 2014 till May 2017, he was a member of the board of directors of UBS Group AG.


Views and opinions

In July 2022, Yam said that the Hong Kong dollar peg to the US Dollar should remain, and that if the US waged a "financial war" against China, it would be unlikely to affect Hong Kong.


Other positions held

After retiring from his role as the chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in September 2009, Joseph Yam took up a number of appointments. Upon his retirement, he was appointed as the Executive Vice-President of the China Society for Finance and Banking, a society managed by the
People's Bank of China The People's Bank of China (officially PBC and unofficially PBOC) is the central bank of the People's Republic of China. It is responsible for carrying out monetary policy as determined by the ''PRC People's Bank Law'' and the ''PRC Commercia ...
. He thus also became de facto an advisor to the People's Bank of China. In 2010, Yam was also appointed as an independent non-executive director to the board of Johnson Electric Holdings Limited and to the board of
China Construction Bank The China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB) is a Chinese partially state-owned Multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Beijing, Beijing, China. It is one of the "Big four banks, big ...
. He was initially appointed for a two-year term till 2012 to the board of Johnson Electric Holdings Limited. This mandate was later extended and Yam currently still serves on the board. He left his post as an independent non-executive director of the China Construction Bank on 23 October 2013. He served the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited in the position of a deputy chairman and director and as a member of the advisory council at Central Bank of United Arab Emirates. Joseph Yam is also a member of the International Council of
China Investment Corporation China Investment Corporation (CIC) is a sovereign wealth fund that manages part of China's foreign exchange reserves. China's largest sovereign fund, CIC was established in 2007 with about US$200 billion of assets under management. In Mar ...
, and a member of the boards of UnionPay International Co., Ltd. and of the Community Chest of Hong Kong. He is also a Distinguished
Research Fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...
at the Institute of Global Economics and Finance at the
Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public university, public research university in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. Established in 1963 as a federation of three university college, collegesChung Chi College, New Asia Coll ...
.


Honours

In 2001, Yam was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Business Administration by the
Open University of Hong Kong Hong Kong Metropolitan University (HKMU, previously known as the Open University of Hong Kong) is a public university in Ho Man Tin, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is the only self-financing university set up by the Hong Kong government. The universi ...
(OUHK). In November 2009, Yam was awarded Doctor of Business Administration ''honoris causa'' by the
Hong Kong University of Science & Technology The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is a public research university in Sai Kung District, New Territories, Hong Kong. Founded in 1991, it was the territory's third institution to be granted university status, and the firs ...
. He was also appointed to the
Hong Kong Institute of Education The Education University of Hong KongUniversity titl ...
(now the Education University of Hong Kong) as an Honorary Professor affiliated to the Department of Asian and Policy Studies for a period of three years, starting from February 2015. As well as honorary doctorate degrees and honorary professorships from local and overseas universities, Yam was also recognised for his public service career and contribution to Hong Kong. In 1995, he was appointed Commander of the Most Excellent
Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(CBE). In 2009, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government awarded him the
Grand Bauhinia Medal The Grand Bauhinia Medal () is the highest award under the Decorations and medals of Hong Kong, Hong Kong honours and awards system; it is to recognise the selected person's lifelong and highly significant contribution to the well-being of Hong ...
(GBM), the highest national award, and in 2001 the
Gold Bauhinia Star The Gold Bauhinia Star (, GBS) is the highest rank in Order of the Bauhinia Star, under the Order (distinction), honours system of Hong Kong, created in 1997 to replace the British honours system after the Handover of Hong Kong, transfer of sovere ...
(GBS). Moreover, in 1997, ''Euromoney'' named him Central Banker of the Year.


Personal life

A 2023 declaration of interests showed that Yam was a member of the
Hong Kong Golf Club The Hong Kong Golf Club is a private golf club. It is home to the Hong Kong Open, a tournament co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours. Founded in 1889 as the Royal Hong Kong Golf Club, the club originally played in Happy Valley, a l ...
.


External links


Curriculum vitae on UBS website

Personal Blog
* List of graduates of University of Hong Kong


Further reading


"Joseph Yam and big currencies"
Economist, June 15, 2012
"Political tensions could undermine Hong Kong as China's top financial centre: Joseph Yam"
SCMP, June 23, 2014
"Occupy threatens city's growth, warn Norman Chan and Joseph Yam"
SCMP, 30 October 2014
"Former HKMA chief Joseph Yam says China quite right to take a cautious approach on allowing the yuan to become freely traded"
SCMP, May 26, 2017
Viewpoints on financial culture: Financial infrastructure
Ejinsight, July 10, 2017


References

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