Appointment of Executive Directors to the SFC and Appointment to the Hkex Risk Management

Press release

Appointment of Executive Directors to the SFC and Appointment to the HKEx Risk Management Committee

Friday, August 25, 2006

The Financial Secretary has made the following appointments to the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) under the authority delegated by the Chief Executive pursuant to the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571) -
Mr Brian Ho - Executive Director (Corporate Finance);
Mr Keith Lui - Executive Director (Supervision of Markets); and
Mr Mark Steward - Executive Director (Enforcement).
The appointments are for three years. Messrs Ho and Lui's term of appointment will run from next Monday (August 28) to August 27, 2009, while Mr Steward's term of appointment will run from September 25, 2006 to September 24, 2009.
Announcing the appointments today (August 25), a government spokesman said the three new SFC Executive Directors were selected through open recruitment exercises and they all had extensive regulatory experience in the securities and futures field.
Mr Ho has been working in the SFC for more than 12 years. He is currently the Senior Director (Corporate Finance) of the SFC, who has extensive regulatory experience and in-depth knowledge in the corporate finance field. The functions of the Executive Director (Corporate Finance) post are to assume full management responsibility for the Corporate Finance Division of the SFC, including overseeing takeover and merger activities, corporate proposals and disclosures and matters relating to listed companies and the listing of securities, including the dual filing function.
Mr Lui is also a veteran executive of the SFC. He has been working in the SFC for more than 14 years. As the current Senior Director (Supervision of Markets) of the SFC, Mr Lui has detailed knowledge and experience in the supervision of the securities and futures markets. The functions of the Executive Director (Supervision of Markets) post are to assume full management responsibility for the Supervision of Markets Division of the SFC, including the supervision of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) and its clearing houses, and strategic planning for and development of the securities and futures markets in Hong Kong.
Mr Steward is currently the Deputy Executive Director (Enforcement) of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). He has 19 years' experience in regulatory investigations and law enforcement. The functions of the Executive Director (Enforcement) post are to assume full management responsibility for the Enforcement Division of SFC, which is responsible for the surveillance of the securities and futures markets to identify unacceptable conduct; investigating statutory offences and breaches of the legislation enforced by the SFC; disciplining licensed persons and initiating prosecutions where appropriate.
The new SFC Executive Directors were selected through a world-wide search by selection panels chaired by Mr Martin Wheatley, the Chief Executive Officer of SFC.
The selection panels conducted global and open recruitment exercises to consider and identify suitable candidates for recommendation to the Financial Secretary for appointment as the new SFC Executive Directors. Members of the selection panels include Mr Marvin Cheung, Dr York Liao, Mr Christopher Cheng, Mr Kenneth Kwok, Mr Leong Ka-chai, Mr Peter Pang and Mrs Sarah Kwok, Deputy Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (Financial Services).
Separately, the Financial Secretary has also appointed Mr Keith Lui as a member of the Risk Management Committee (RMC) of HKEx.
The functions of the RMC are to formulate policies on risk management matters relating to the activities of HKEx and its subsidiaries. The appointment will also run from next Monday (August 28) to August 27, 2009.