22 Facts About Joseph Yam

Joseph Yam Chi-kwong, GBM, GBS, CBE, JP is a Hong Kong statistician, economist and civil servant.

Joseph Yam was the first Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, 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.

Joseph Yam 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 since 2017.

Joseph Yam graduated from the University of Hong Kong in economics, social sciences and statistics with first class honors in 1970.

Joseph Yam joined the Government of Hong Kong as a statistician in 1971 and became an economist in 1976.

Subsequently, in 1982, Joseph Yam was appointed as Principal Assistant Secretary for Monetary Affairs.

In 1983, Joseph Yam contributed to formulating the peg between the Hong Kong dollar and US dollar.

Joseph 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 2007, Joseph 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.

In 2008, Joseph Yam was summoned by a subcommittee of Legislative Council of Hong Kong in a hearing regarding issues arising from Lehman Brothers-related Minibonds and structured financial products.

On 19 May 2009, Joseph Yam confirmed his plan to retire, after having served in his post for 16 years.

In July 2022, Joseph 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.

Joseph Yam thus became de facto an advisor to the People's Bank of China.

In 2010, Joseph Yam was appointed as an independent non-executive director to the board of Johnson Electric Holdings Limited and to the board of China Construction Bank.

Joseph Yam was initially appointed for a two-year term till 2012 to the board of Johnson Electric Holdings Limited.

Joseph Yam left his post as an independent non-executive director of the China Construction Bank on 23 October 2013.

Joseph Yam 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 a member of the International Council of China Investment Corporation, and a member of the boards of UnionPay International Co.

Joseph Yam is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Institute of Global Economics and Finance at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

In 2001, Joseph Yam was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Business Administration by the Open University of Hong Kong.

Joseph Yam was appointed to the Hong Kong Institute of Education as an Honorary Professor affiliated to the Department of Asian and Policy Studies for a period of three years, starting from February 2015.