In Depth: Regulatory Titan Laura Cha Takes Final Bow

By Wang Duan, Wang Xiaoqing and Zhang Yukun

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Laura Cha, chair of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, bid farewell to the media in Hong Kong on April 24, 2024, after hosting her last annual general meeting before stepping down after six years in the position

Laura Cha, 74, stepped down as chair of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. (HKEX) on Wednesday.

Her six years at the Asian financial hub’s stock exchange operator was only a small part of a career packed with changes and challenges that spanned the securities regulatory systems in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland.

Cha held senior positions in the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) during the city’s transformational years from the early 1990s to the early 2000s. She played a key role in building a framework for mainland companies to list in Hong Kong. She later helped steer the mainland’s fledgling securities market toward more comprehensive regulatory oversight.