The head of Hong Kong’s stock exchange has announced he will step down months after leading a failed $32 billion bid to buy its London counterpart, casting doubt over the bourse’s strategy at a time when the city’s status as a financial hub is under pressure, reported the Financial Times.
In a statement on Thursday, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing said Charles Li “would not seek” reappointment as chief executive when his current contract expires in October 2021. HKEX has put a committee in charge of finding a successor for Li.
Li, an outspoken former oil-rigger, won plaudits for his efforts to internationalize HKEX in his decade at the helm by luring global companies to the exchange and building ties with mainland Chinese markets.
Under his tenure, the exchange opened up trading links with the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets that enabled billions of dollars to flow into China’s stock and bond markets as the country’s economy boomed. In 2012 HKEX acquired the London Metal Exchange.
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