SFC's first woman chief fully primed

Aiden He

Julia Leung Fung-yee, who will head the SAR's market regulator for three years from next month, said her primary task is to protect investors and strengthen Hong Kong's role as an international financial center.

The current deputy chief executive of the Securities and Futures Commission also said after she was appointed to succeed Ashley Alder yesterday that she was delighted and honored to be the first female chief executive of the SFC and looks forward to working closely with the team to tackle challenges.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said the government has "every confidence in Leung's leadership of the SFC and promotion of the regulation and development of Hong Kong's securities and futures markets."

The appointment was welcomed by the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Investment Funds Association.

Leung joined the watchdog in 2015 as executive director overseeing the investment products division. She took over as executive director of the intermediaries division in 2016.

She was the Undersecretary for Financial Services and the Treasury from 2008 to 2013 and worked in the Hong Kong Monetary Authority from 1994 to 2008. She had been a journalist at the Asian Wall Street Journal for 10 years.

Long-time boss Alder announced his departure in July to chair the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom from next year.