Top Hong Kong official to take over as FCA chair
The Financial Conduct Authority has announced today that one of Hong Kong’s top financial officials will take over as chair of the watchdog next year.
Ashley Alder, who is currently CEO of the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong and Chairs the International Organisation of Securities Commissions, will take over the role in January 2023 from Richard Lloyd, who has served as interim Chair since Charles Randell stepped down from his post in May 2022.
In a statement today, Alder said it was a “great privilege to have the opportunity to Chair the FCA.
“I also value the opportunity to contribute to a crucial phase in the FCA’s history as it helps chart the UK’s post-Brexit future as a global financial centre which continues to support innovation and competition through its own world-leading regulatory standards,” he said.
Former lawyer Alder has been in his current post since October 2011 and has served as the elected Chair of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions, the global standard setter for securities markets regulation, helping to boost Hong Kong’s reputation as a global financial centre. He previously held senior roles at Herbert Smith Freehills LLP.
Alder takes on the role at a pivotal point for the watchdog as it rapidly expands to meet a growing remit. The FCA announced this week it had bolstered its senior leadership team and hired almost 500 people in the past six months, with executives taking on oversight of areas including consumer finance, payments and digital assets, and retail and regulatory investigations, in a mixture of “new and existing roles”.