FORMER appointed legislator Andrew So Kwok-wing will succeed Arthur Garcia as ombudsman in February.
The appointment of Mr So to be only the second Commissioner for Administrative Complaints since the position was created five years ago was announced yesterday.
Mr So, 54, sits on several advisory committees but said he would resign from all public service and retire from his job as international vice-president of Cuna Mutual Insurance before taking up his new post.
He said he had to do that to ensure he faced no conflict of interest and that he and his office were both impartial and independent.
The ombudsman's job, equivalent to a D8 post in the civil service, comes with a salary of $130,650 a month.
Mr Garcia, 69, who has been heading the office since it was set up in 1989, has to step down because the administration considers him to be too old.