Chief executive of HKEX, which owns LME, sets retirement date

Charles Li Xiaoji, chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. (HKEX) has informed the HKEX board of directors he does not intend not to seek reappointment as the organization’s chief executive at the end of his current contract, which expires in October 2021.

The 59-year-old Li began his tenure as HKEX leader in January 2010 and spearheaded the organization’s acquisition of the London Metal Exchange (LME) in 2012.

That £1.4 billion ($1.75 billion) transaction seems not to have lived up to his expectations as a bridge between commodities markets in Europe and the People’s Republic of China. A 2019 article in the London-based Financial Times remarks, “China’s domestic commodity exchanges have repeatedly blocked attempts by the LME to break into the mainland market. The LME, which has a global network of 500 warehouses to store metals, still has no sites in China [and] its only access to the country’s market is through a small physical commodities exchange in Shenzhen, China, which started trading alumina in October 2018.”

At an LME Asia Week event in Hong Kong in May 2018, Li called the LME’s penetration into the mainland China market the basis of “three great aspirations” the LME still had at that time.

The Hong Kong stock exchange has seen more robust growth under Li, with the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reporting, “the exchange’s market capitalization has doubled” since Li assumed leadership in 2010, and that “Hong Kong has seized the crown as the world’s hub for initial public offerings (IPOs) in seven of the past 11 years.”

However, in 2019 another foray into London proved difficult for Li. Last year, HKEX made a bid to buy the London Stock Exchange for $36.6 billion. That bid was turned away in favor of a competing bid from London-based Refinitiv.

“I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to Charles for his extraordinary leadership and contribution to the Hong Kong market over the last decade, and to thank him on behalf of the board, for giving us as much time as possible to ensure a smooth transition,” says Laura M. Cha, chair of the HKEX board. “The board is confident that the succession process will be smooth and orderly and that the group is on a strong foundation.”