The 2014 Trading Technology 40: Bill Chow and Richard Leung

25

Bill Chow & Richard Leung

Co–Chief Technology Officers

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing

Last year: 32

Reporting to Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing chief executive Charles Li, co-CTOs and senior management committee members Bill Chow and Richard Leung are carrying out one of the most aggressive and extensive upgrades undertaken by a market infrastructure operator. Dubbed HKEx Orion and touted as “a major transformation in market access, connectivity, speed and efficiency,” the HK$3 billion ($387 million) project is “a significant capital investment aimed at positioning us to capture our opportunities,” says Chow, 57, a 21-year HKEx veteran who oversees all aspects of information technology infrastructure except those assigned to Leung: securities trading systems, next-generation market data and central gateway development. Recent mileposts included the launches of market data for securities in September and trading and clearing for derivatives in October. The latter, running on Nasdaq OMX Group’s Genium INET technology, started a month and a half ahead of schedule and was the result of a “true partnership with Nasdaq OMX,” Chow says. Working with another vendor, San Francisco–based Calypso Technology, HKEx central counterparty OTC Clear handled its first swap transaction in November. Market data for derivatives and the ultra-low-latency central gateway are now nearing completion. The improved HKEx will boost Hong Kong’s standing as a financial center and “benefit all market participants,” says Leung, 50, who joined the company in September 2012 after three years as CTO of Chi-X Global. “We focus on serving our market as a whole, continuously, without failing.”

See also Chow and Leung’s profile in the 2013 Trading Technology 40.