Lisa O’Connor joins HKEX as MD, Head of Post Trade Change
Reporting to Glenda So, Head of Post Trade, she will be working across HKEX’s clearing and settlement system initiatives to expand the firm’s post-trade services offering and improve efficiencies.
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) has appointed Lisa O’Connor as Managing Director, Head of Post Trade Change.
Reporting to Glenda So, Head of Post Trade, she will be working across HKEX’s clearing and settlement system initiatives to expand the firm’s post-trade services offering and improve efficiencies.
Glenda So, Head of Post Trade at HKEX, commented: “We are very pleased to welcome Lisa to HKEX. She brings extensive expertise in initiating, leading, and executing strategic initiatives in post-trade and middle office, and I am looking forward to working with her as we continue to strengthen and advance Hong Kong’s role as an international financial center.”
Ms. O’Connor joins HKEX from SWIFT, where she held a number of senior roles throughout nine years at the company, most recently as Head of Capital Markets Strategy, based in Hong Kong.
With nearly 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, she has also worked at Standard Chartered Bank as Head of HK Securities Services. She holds an MBA from Manchester Business School in the UK and a BSc from Syracuse University in the US.
Experienced in operationalizing businesses, managing P&L, managing risk, and building product development and sales strategies for Finacial Services companies, she has worked in the Greater China region, Sydney, and New York.
HKEX has recently announced the appointment of JP Morgan’s Nicolas Aguzin as Chief Executive Officer. He will be joining the venue after nine years of leading the investment bank’s growth in China as the region’s CEO.
Prior to that, he held a number of roles during his 30 years with the firm, including Head of Investment Banking, Asia Pacific from 2015 to 2019, and as CEO of JP Morgan Latin America from 2005 to 2012.
He will officially start on 24 May 2021 for a term of three years until 23 May 2024.
As China’s economy and capital markets continue to open, HKEX will become more relevant as the venue facilitates significant new flows of capital and supports the strong demand for capital to fuel growth.
Hong Kong’s increasing relevance as a global financial hub is leading top financial services firms to double down on their commitment to the region.
HSBC has recently announced it is increasing its presence in Asia, as the bank prepares to shift some of its senior executives from London to Hong Kong.
Chief executive Noel Quinn is expected to begin marketing HSBC’s “pivot to Asia” when he announces the bank’s 2020 earnings tomorrow.
Under the plans, a raft of top executives will be moved out of the bank’s Canary Wharf offices to Hong Kong, with further expansion expected in Singapore.
Those executives are likely to include Greg Guyett, co-head of global banking and markets, Nuno Matos, chief executive of wealth and personal banking, and Barry O’Byrne, chief executive of global commercial banking.
Relocating the bank’s top brass would mean business divisions that account for around 95 percent of HSBC’s global revenue will be run out of Hong Kong rather than London.
HSBC has received widespread condemnation over the past few months for freezing the accounts of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong. Mr. Quinn defended the decision when hauled in front of MPs last month, insisting that laws were needed to “stabilise” the region last year.
