Salary of Hong Kong bourse's new chief tops his predecessor's

[HONG KONG] Hong Kong's new stock exchange boss will earn a higher basic salary than his predecessor when he takes over on Monday.

Nicolas Aguzin, incoming chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing, will receive a basic salary of HK$10 million (S$1.7 million) a year, according to a statement Friday. That is 7.4 per cent higher than his predecessor, Charles Li, who was paid HK$9.315 million.

Mr Aguzin, a former banker at JPMorgan Chase & Co, will serve a term of three years. He will also be awarded 211,756 shares of HKEX, worth HK$96 million as of Friday's close at HK$453.6 apiece. Half of the stock will be cashable after one year of employment and the balance after the second.

The bourse said the shares are "compensation for loss of unvested long-term incentives earned through his service with his previous employer." Mr Aguzin is also eligible to receive a bonus and more shares, based on performance.

BLOOMBERG