(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong is losing one of its longest-serving markets regulators as Keith Choy prepares to step down, according to people familiar with the matter.
Choy, senior director of the Intermediaries Supervision Department, will leave the Securities and Futures Commission after 26 years, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. A notice seeking his replacement was published Friday on the watchdog’s website.
An SFC spokesperson declined to comment. Choy is planning to retire and will depart the commission soon, some of the people said, without providing an exact date.
The SFC is the regulator for the city’s $5.5 trillion market, of which Choy’s team oversaw some 44,500 licensed financiers at more than 3,240 firms. The Hong Kong stock exchange recently saw a trading spike following a barrage of market supportive measures from China.
Choy joined the SFC’s enforcement team in 1998 and moved to supervising licensed traders, brokers and asset managers in 2017. He was the face of the SFC to many in the brokerage and asset management industry, frequently seen at events and communicating policy direction.
He was named interim head of intermediaries in 2023 after Julia Leung was appointed chief executive officer, only later to return to his original senior director’s role.
SFC Chairman Tim Lui also ended his six-year term this week, and was replaced by Kelvin Wong.
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