Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T19:21:02.675Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Negotiating Positive Non-interventionism: Regulating Hong Kong's Finance Companies, 1976–1986

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2017

Catherine R. Schenk Open the ORCID record for Catherine R. Schenk [Opens in a new window]
Catherine R. Schenk*
Affiliation:
Department of economic and social history, University of Glasgow.ORCID 0000-0003-4116-5883; Email: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Since colonial times to the present day, Hong Kong's position as a global financial centre is one of the enduring economic strengths of the territory. This success is often attributed to the distinctive role of the state, coined in the 1970s by the-then financial secretary, Sir Philip Haddon-Cave, as “positive non-interventionism.” The relationship between the market and the state has also been characterized as a form of corporatism, particularly in the financial sector as bankers were able to influence policy. However, closer examination of the behind-the-scenes relations between bankers and the state reveals a much more complex relationship, with the banks seeking protection that the government was not willing to provide. Moreover, the reluctance to regulate financial markets resulted in piecemeal interventions and weak implementation that undermined the stability of this sector and of the economy as a whole. This paper demonstrates the confusion over the concept and practicalities of positive non-interventionism, even for Haddon-Cave, and how the concept evolved towards a policy of “when in doubt, do nothing” during a period of financial instability. Along the way, the paper presents new evidence about the origins of Hong Kong's current banking structure.

摘要

从殖民时期至今, 香港作为全球金融中心, 这一地位一直是该地区保持经济优势的因素之一。这一作用通常被归因于国家独特性, 即香港前财政司司长夏鼎基 (Charles Philip Haddon Cave) 在上世纪 70 年代提出的 “积极不干预政策”。市场与国家之间的关系也被描述为一个形式主义, 特别是在银行家能够影响政策的金融部门。但仔细审视银行家与国家之间的幕后关系能揭示出一种更为复杂的关系, 即银行寻求的保护政府却不愿意提供。此外, 不愿意监管金融市场导致了干预的碎片化和实施力度不够, 这破坏了金融部门和整个经济的稳定。本文分析了积极不干预政策在概念理解和实际操作上的混乱, 甚至包括夏鼎基在内, 以及在在金融动荡时期积极不干预政策内涵如何演变为 “没把握的事就不要做”。同时本文也为香港目前的银行业结构起源提供了新证据。

Keywords

Hong Konginternational financial centregovernmenteconomic policy香港国际金融中心政府经济政策
Type
Articles
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 230 , June 2017 , pp. 348 - 370
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © SOAS University of London 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Asian Money Manager. 1980; 1983. Directory of Deposit-taking Companies in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Asia Money Manager.Google Scholar
Barings Securities. 1987. Hong Kong Banking Sector. Hong Kong: Barings.Google Scholar
Chan, Chak Kwan. 2011. Social Security Policy in Hong Kong: From British Colony to China's Special Administrative Region. New York: Lexington.Google Scholar
Chesterton, Josephine M., and Ghose, Tushkar K.. 1998. Merchant Banking in Hong Kong and Singapore. Singapore: Butterworths.Google Scholar
Cheung, Anthony B.L. 2000. “New interventionism in the making: interpreting state interventions in Hong Kong after the change of sovereignty.” Journal of Contemporary China 9(24), 291–308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheung, Anthony B.L. 2010. “Repositioning the state and the public sector reform agenda: the case of Hong Kong.” In Ramesh, M., Araral, Eduardo Jr. and Wu, Xun (eds.), Reasserting the Public in Public Services: New Public Management Reforms. London: Routledge, 79–101.Google Scholar
Financial Stability Board. 2012. “Strengthening the oversight and regulation of shadow banking,” 16 April, Progress report to G20 ministers and governors, http://www.fsb.org/wp-content/uploads/r_120420c.pdf?page_moved=1. Accessed 12 April 2017.Google Scholar
Friedman, Milton. 1997. “Asian values: right…,” National Review, 31 December, 26–37.Google Scholar
Friedman, Milton. 2006. “Hong Kong wrong,” Wall Street Journal, 6 October.Google Scholar
Ghose, Tushkar K. 1987. The Banking System of Hong Kong. Singapore: Butterworths.Google Scholar
Goodstadt, Leo. 2005. Uneasy Partners: The Conflict between Public Interest and Private Profit in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.Google Scholar
Goodstadt, Leo. 2007. Profits, Politics and Panics: Hong Kong's Banks and the Making of a Miracle Economy, 1935–1985. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.Google Scholar
Greenwood, John. 2008. Hong Kong's Link to the US Dollar. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.Google Scholar
Haddon-Cave, Sir Philip. 1980. “The making of some aspects of public policy in Hong Kong.” In Lethbridge, David (ed.), The Business Environment in Hong Kong. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Jao, Y.C. 1974. Banking and Currency in Hong Kong. London: Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kynaston, David, and Roberts, Richard. 2015. The Lion Wakes: A Modern History of HSBC. London: Profile Books.Google Scholar
Latter, Tony. 2007. Hong Kong's Money. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.Google Scholar
Ma, Ngok. 2009. “Reinventing the Hong Kong state or rediscovering it? From low interventionism to eclectic corporatism.” Economy and Society 38(3), 492–519.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ma, Ngok. 2016. “The making of a corporatist state in Hong Kong: the road to sectoral intervention.” Journal of Contemporary Asia 46(2), 247–266.Google Scholar
Reid, Margaret. 1982. The Secondary Banking Crisis, 1973–75. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Schenk, Catherine R. 2001. Hong Kong as an International Financial Centre: Emergence and Development 1945–65. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schenk, Catherine R. 2003. “Banking crises and the evolution of the regulatory framework in Hong Kong 1945–70.” Australian Economic History Review 43(2), 140–154.Google Scholar
Schenk, Catherine R. 2009a. “‘Parasitic invasions’ or sources of good governance: constraining foreign competition in Hong Kong banking 1965–81.” Business History 51(2), 157–179.Google Scholar
Schenk, Catherine R. 2009b. “The evolution of the Hong Kong currency board during global exchange rate instability, 1967–1973.” Financial History Review 16(2), 129–156.Google Scholar
Staley, Sam. 1994. Planning Rules and Urban Economic Performance: The Case of Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press.Google Scholar
Trident International Finance Co Ltd. 1975. Annual Report. Hong Kong: Trident International Finance Co. Ltd. Google Scholar