Laura Cha

Laura Cha, the first female chair of HKEX, has helped lead Hong Kong’s stock exchange operator through an extraordinary era of change since she got the job in 2018. First came the fallout of Hong Kong’s protest movement, then the city’s isolation during COVID, and now a gloomy regional and global economy. In 2022, HKEX, often the top IPO venue in the world, hit a 10-year low for new listings; revenue dropped 12%, to $2.3 billion. HKEX rebounded in the first half of 2023, hosting 33 new listings—up 22% from the same period of 2022—and posting revenue equal to $1.4 billion, a 5% year-over-year bump. Just as she’s adapted to historical shifts, Cha has also helped HKEX make some of its own. Notably, Cha has chaired HKEX as it rolled out a rule that requires listed issuers to have at least one female director by 2024, the first such mandate by a major exchange.