Paul Chan Mo-po (; born 18 March 1955) is the Financial Secretary of Hong Kong and former Secretary for Development of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. He was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (Accountancy functional constituency).
He is an accountant and the former President of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA). He holds BBA and MBA degrees from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he is an Adjunct Associate Professor. He has also studied at the Harvard Business School.
He was awarded the Grand Bauhinia Medal (GBM) by the Hong Kong SAR Government in 2017.
Biography
Chan is the eldest of a family of four, grew up in a resettlement estate that his family lived in until a fire destroyed Shek Kip Mei in 1953. Chan was admitted to the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he graduated with an accounting degree. At one time, he worked by day in the Inland Revenue and by night as a lecturer. He later set up his own accounting firm.
He is an accountant who holds BBA and MBA degrees from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and has also studied at the Harvard Business School. As the former president of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA), he stood for the accountancy Functional constituency and was elected to the Legislative Council of Hong Kong in 2008. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
He was appointed the Secretary for Development and inducted into the CY Leung administration on 30 July 2012 to replace Mak Chai-kwong, who resigned earlier that month over a housing allowance fraud scandal. He resigned from the Legislative Council on the same day.
He is married to Frieda Hui, and the couple have a son and a daughter.
Subdivided flats scandal
As Development Secretary, Paul Chan is responsible for the Buildings Department, whose mission includes dealing with illegal structures. Chan soon became embroiled in a scandal when his wife, Frieda Hui, through a company of which he was a former director, was found to own several properties that had been illegally subdivided. Chan denied any knowledge of the subdivided properties and said that in any event he ceased to be a director of the company holding the properties in 1997. After having been served rectification notices by the Building Department, Chan was quoted as saying that tenants partitioned the properties in breach of their leases.
Ming Pao subsequently revealed that, between 1994 and 1996, Harvest Charm Development acquired a total of 10 old flats in Tai Kok Tsui and Jordan while both Chan and his wife Freida were directors. Five of these properties were shown to have been subdivided. When confronted with the facts, Chan said his initial denial meant he had "no knowledge of the current status [at those properties]"
His initial silence, and then self-contradictory public statements on the matter that were widely seen as deceptive, led to calls for his resignation. Ming Pao said that Chan must restore public confidence in him by "coming up with some convincing evidence that he has no intention to deceive the public". The convenor of the Executive Council also questioned Chan's credibility and the impact of the unfolding scandal on the credibility of the government. Chan gave a pledge that he and his wife would not make further investments in the property market, and would divest their shares in Harvest Charm Development, the company at the centre of the controversy.
Development land scandal
In July 2013, Chan was once again the subject of controversy when Apple Daily revealed that he or his family had an interest in a plot of land in Kwu Tung in the New Territories that the government had plans to develop. Chan was responsible for pushing the project through, and was accused of conflict of interest and failure to make proper disclosure. An editorial in The Standard noted that, with the exception of Regina Ip, all other pro-establishment figures either remained silent or distanced themselves from Chan over the matter.