Alder becomes the longest-serving CEO of the commission.
Alder’s 11-year term accounts for a third of the commission’s 33-year existence.
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) CEO Ashley Alder, who has served in that role since 2011, is resigning in January 2023 to join the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom, the commission said on Friday morning. There will be a worldwide hunt for a new leader by the government. When Alder’s term expires in 2023, he thus becomes the longest-serving CEO of the commission.
Multiple Achievements and initiatives
The 63-year-old Alder was appointed CEO of SFC in October 2011 and has implemented several risks- and misconduct-management initiatives, including the 2018 IPO reform. In addition, he collaborated with Shanghai and Shenzhen on the Stock Connect schemes in 2014 and 2016 and the Bond Connect in 2017. Last year, he contributed to creating the Wealth Management Connect program and the ETF Connect, which went live on Monday.
After receiving Alder’s resignation request last month and giving him six months’ notice, Tim Lui, the SFC’s chairman, confirmed to the New York Post that Alder’s contract permits him to depart.
Lui stated:
“His new role in the UK Financial Conduct Authority is a non-executive chairman role. We wish him all the best in his new role and hope Mr Alder can act as ambassador for the Hong Kong financial market.”
According to Lui, Alder’s 11-year term accounts for a third of the commission’s 33-year existence. The new CEO will be chosen from a pool of candidates from around the globe. On Friday, brokers speculated that Julia Leung Fung-yee, Alder’s long-term deputy, was the front-runner to replace him.