The Securities and Futures Commission is going on a recruitment campaign to maintain its position in a competitive market
Hong Kong's securities regulator is seeking to hire 50 professionals to fill a broad range of roles in different departments to cope with growing trading volumes.
Responsible for regulating the securities and futures markets in Hong Kong, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) had found it necessary to hire more staff who would be able to handle fast-evolving market conditions, said Paul Kennedy, SFC's executive director and chief operating officer.
The SFC has vacancies for more than 50 positions, partially due to regular turnover and to meet the needs of the growing intricacy of the markets. It has regular hirings throughout the year and the organisation had 442 people on its payroll in March.
Mr Kennedy said that an increase in the organisation's budget allowed it to hire more staff. In its 2008/09 budget, presented in February, the commission set aside HK$569.9 million alone for personnel costs in the coming year, an increase of 21.6 per cent. This increase will allow the creation of at least 29 additional full-time jobs and eight post upgrades to cater for an increase in issues related to the mainland, and the complexity of enforcement activities.
'Our employees tend to get poached, so we now have across the board vacancies in most departments, from mid-management and below,' Mr Kennedy said.