Exclusive | Hong Kong’s monetary chief Norman Chan to retire at the end of his contract in September

Norman Chan Tak-lam, Hong Kong’s de facto central banker, will end his decade-long tenure as monetary chief in September upon the expiry of his contract, ending a career that has been built upon strong-arming banks to gird themselves against the city’s volatile property loans.

Chan, who turns 65 in October, will retire at the end of September as the chief executive officer of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the government said on Thursday afternoon, confirming an exclusive report by the South China Morning Post earlier in the day.

The career civil servant, who started his public service during British colonial days as an administrative officer, is most closely associated with the eight rounds of mortgage tightening measures that reduced banks’ exposure to property downturns. As a result of the tightening, the average ratio of mortgages to property value fell to 51 per cent, from 64 per cent in 2009 when Chan took over the HKMA’s reins in 2009, from as high as 70 per cent in 1997.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po will head a selection panel that will include former HKMA chief executive Joseph Yam Chi-kwong in vetting candidates for succession. In announcing the retirement, Paul Chan said the retirement of the city’s central banker would not affect the operation of the HKMA or the stability of the financial system.

“Norman has been leading the HKMA since 2009 and has worked tirelessly over the years to strengthen the city’s monetary and banking systems and promote Hong Kong’s position as an international financial centre in Asia. I respect his wish and decision to retire upon completion of his second term as chief executive of the HKMA,” Paul Chan said.