The view from Andrew Sheng's office has never been so hazy.
For the past seven years, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) boss has been in the definitive business of rules, regulation and enforcement. But while it is a given that Mr Sheng will clear his desk later this month after seven years at the helm, less clear is who will replace him and what kind of animal the regulator will become under his or her tenure.
With just weeks to go before he leaves Chater House for the last time, Mr Sheng has no official successor. The likelihood, however, is that he will eventually have two, as the government lobbies for a split chairmanship to oversee an organisation with greater powers and a wider reach than it had when Mr Sheng took up the post.
Even more probable is that the government has a candidate firmly in mind to steer a strategic course.
The question being asked is whether this appointment will trigger a new direction in market regulation. Given the past loyalties of the clear favourite for the job, however, few observers believe the regulatory body will suddenly find itself with greater bite.
It comes in stark contrast to the backdrop of Mr Sheng's appointment seven years ago. The Chinese-Malaysian joined the SFC from the offices of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, where he worked as deputy chief executive.
