The Office of the General Counsel (OGC) advises the HKMA on the legal aspects of all of the HKMA’s activities. The OGC's lawyers are involved at an early stage in the planning and implementation of the HKMA's projects, initiatives and operations.

In addition to its general operational workload, the OGC was involved in a number of projects in 2006, including the preparation of the Banking (Capital) Rules and Banking (Disclosure) Rules to implement the new capital regulatory regime in Hong Kong based upon the Basel II Capital Accord and the Deposit Protection Scheme (Asset Maintenance) Rules. All of these Rules became effective in January 2007. The OGC also advised on a number of other projects, including the renminbi settlement system, the payment-versus-payment link between Hong Kong’s US dollar RTGS system and Malaysia's ringgit RTGS system, and several bank mergers.

During the year, lawyers of the OGC participated in meetings and conferences for central bankers and their legal advisers to keep abreast of topical developments in important international financial centres. These conferences covered issues such as money laundering, financial infrastructure, resolution of banking crises, economic crime and corporate governance. OGC lawyers also took part in teleconferences with their counterparts from other central banks to clarify and resolve topics of current concern. Presentations were made by lawyers of the OGC at international forums on subjects such as central bank market intervention, economic crime and Basel II.