Laura M. Cha, unequivocally one of the most influential female business leaders in Hong Kong, has been a champion of change, progression and development in financial markets in her various capacities: from regulatory oversight and policymaking to financial market structures and sustainability.
Over the years, she has played an instrumental role in the development of Hong Kong as a key international financial centre and in the evolution of China’s capital markets.
Cha trained as a lawyer in the US and joined the Securities and Futures Commission in Hong Kong in 1991, later becoming its deputy chair. She spearheaded the historic listing of Chinese state-owned enterprises in Hong Kong with the creation of H-shares in 1993. These listings created a new class of equities and spawned the development of derivatives products on Chinese equities on the Hong Kong market.
In 2000, Cha led the effort to demutualize the city’s stock and futures exchanges and, together with Hong Kong Securities Clearing Company, they merged under a single holding company, HKEX.
In 2001, Cha was appointed by the Chinese central government as vice chair of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, becoming the first, and to date, the only person outside Mainland China to join the central government at the vice-ministerial rank.
After stepping down from that post in 2004, she was appointed to the board of HKEX as an independent director from 2007 to 2012. She then served as its first female chair from 2018 until her retirement in 2024, leading the board in setting the strategic direction of the organisation.
During her tenure at HKEX, Cha tirelessly worked to expand the derivative markets in Hong Kong and provide investors with effective solutions in managing risks and gaining exposure to growth opportunities in the region.
Cha also served as a member of the Executive Council of the Government of Hong Kong from 2004 to 2022 and chair of the Financial Services Development Council of Hong Kong from 2013 to 2018. She was awarded the Silver Bauhinia Star in 2001, the Gold Bauhinia Star in 2009, and the Grand Bauhinia Medal in 2017 by the Hong Kong SAR government for her dedication to public service.
