HKEx chief executive Charles Li has his contract renewed for three years
Charles Li's base salary will rise to HK$8m, but the next term will bring many challenges
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing has renewed the contract of its chief executive, Charles Li Xiaojia, for three years until October 2015.
His base salary will rise to HK$8 million a year. This is a 6.38 per cent increase from the HK$7.52 million per year in his last contract. But his total compensation last year was HK$23.07 million, including a HK$7.5 million performance bonus, shares and housing and retirement benefits.
"This compensation package was determined having given consideration to the level of responsibility, experience and abilities required of the chief executive and the remuneration offered for similar positions in the financial industry," HKEx said.
The renewal of Li's contract came as no surprise to the market, as brokers expected that the bourse would like him to stay on for many continuing projects, including the launch of yuan currency futures on Monday and the acquisition of the London Metal Exchange, awaiting regulatory approval in November.
Li, 51, who was born in Beijing but has lived in Hong Kong for 18 years, worked for an oil company and as a journalist before becoming a lawyer and then a banker. He was the chairman of JP Morgan's China division before joining the exchange as its chief in October 2009.
Brokers consider Li a reformer. He has attracted more listings from international firms and made Hong Kong the world's largest market worldwide for initial public offerings in the past three years.