The 2015 Tech 50: Charles Li

< The 2015 Tech 50: Racers to the Edge

15
Charles Li
Chief Executive Officer
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing
Last year: 20

Shanghai–Hong Kong Stock Connect, the literally boundary-breaking network over which equity transactions began flowing last September, appeared to be the climactic act of Charles Li’s five-year run as chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing. Li, however, sees the so-called through train as just a start, in terms of both its own potential and additional cross-border linkages with other mainland markets and beyond. He says he is pleased with Stock Connect’s first several months; volumes built slowly and accelerated markedly in April. “Stock Connect is a long-term scheme, and its significance will be measured in years, not days or weeks,” says Li, 53, who was chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s China activities for six years before taking the HKEx helm in 2010. “The immediate achievement was the infrastructure itself, which enabled us to connect markets with widely differing systems, operating procedures and rules,” he adds. “The program has performed well against the three important measures of success for any major market infrastructure project: safety, stability and smooth operation.” Another high-profile initiative centers on the London Metal Exchange, which HKEx acquired in 2012 for $2.2 billion. LME has been extending its connections to China’s capital markets via Hong Kong, and in May it released a Chinese-language version of its smart phone app. Noting that LME brought clearing in-house last September with the launch of LME Clear, Li says, “LME and LME Clear are a key part of our international strategy to diversify our business and extend into commodities trading and clearing. They are already making an important contribution to our bottom line.”

See the full story, “The 2015 Tech 50: Racers to the Edge.”

The 2015 Tech 50