Hong Kong names accountant Tim Lui Tim-leung to chair Securities and Futures Commission
Tim Lui Tim-leung, the former tax partner of PwC, will succeed Carlson Tong Ka-shing as the third accountant in more than a decade to be made chairman of the watchdog
Hong Kong’s government has appointed a career tax accountant to chair the city’s securities industry watchdog agency, as the incumbent serves out the six-year maximum tenure, according to an announcement.
Tim Lui Tim-leung, the former tax partner of PwC, will succeed Carlson Tong Ka-shing as the third accountant in more than a decade to be chairman of the Securities and Futures Commission, according to the statement, confirming an earlier report by the South China Morning Post.
Lui, 63, was selected because of his three-decade accounting career in one of the world’s largest financial firms, keeping with the SFC’s tradition of picking numbers men for the job, according to two sources familiar with the plans. Tong retired as chairman of KPMG before his appointment in 2012 as the agency’s second chairman. Eddy Fong Ching, the SFC’s non-executive chairman from 2006 to 2012, was also a senior PwC partner until his retirement in 2003.
As a retired accountant, Lui would avoid any potential conflicts of interest, the sources said. His familiarity with Hong Kong’s capital market also made Lui the ideal candidate for the job, they said.
Lui was born in Hong Kong to a wealthy family.