HKEX CEO says national security law won't change Hong Kong's financial role

[BENGALURU] Charles Li, the head of the Hong Kong stock exchange, told China's state news agency Xinhua that Beijing's national security legislation will not change Hong Kong's role as an international financial market.

Dubbed by some as "Mr China", the chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) also commented on sanctions threatened by the United States as a result of the legislation, saying Hong Kong will remain Asia's most important financial market for the United States and the West.

"No matter what the United States will do, it will not change the fact that Hong Kong will remain the most internationalised and open market in China, which is in the interests of China, the United States and the world," he was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

Earlier this month, Mr Li said that many US-listed Chinese firms will likely list on the Hong Kong exchange this year, in part because of US political pressure following China's new national security legislation on Hong Kong.

Mr Li's comments earlier in June came after US President Donald Trump said his administration would eliminate special treatment for Hong Kong over the new security law, which according to him threw Hong Kong's freedoms and function as a finance hub into doubt.

REUTERS