HKEX has been at the heart of Asia’s capital markets. And today, we are Asia’s largest and most trusted stock market connecting not just capital, but ideas, inspiration and innovation. We provide choice and opportunity for our customers, and we play a major role in Hong Kong, one of the globe’s premier financial markets.

Under the leadership of Paul Chow, HKEX’s Legal Services Department (with a total of 23 team members as at March 2025) provides advices on the legality of projects undertaken by the Group, prepares and reviews contracts to which any group member is a party, amending and advising on the provisions of the rules of the Stock Exchange, the Futures Exchange and the recognised clearing houses. Paul also has responsibility for the LME legal team which has 11 lawyers.

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure organisational resilience?

As a leading global exchange group, HKEX continues to play a unique and pivotal role in promoting market efficiency and quality and shaping the long-term sustainable development of capital markets in the region and beyond which is particularly important during periods of instabilities and crises. We are fully committed to maintaining well-regulated, efficient and transparent markets to support the evolving needs of global investors, and to better align with international standards.

In support of the resilience and competitiveness of HKEX and Hong Kong as a world-class financial centre, our Legal Services Department plays a crucial role not only in providing multi-faceted legal advice but also support relating to product development, platform development, review and amendments of all necessary rule changes and potential impact to both HKEX and the market in supporting our broader business strategies and priorities. These efforts have translated into numerous important milestones and achievements such as the implementation of market enhancement to allow Hong Kong’s securities and derivatives markets to remain open during severe weather conditions, the successful launch of Data Marketplace / web-based direct distribution platform that offers intuitive access of HKEX’s proprietary market data and the successful launch of the inclusion of Gold Standard’s Verified Emission Reductions on HKEX’s Carbon marketplace (i.e. CORE Climate).

At HKEX, strong corporate governance and ESG stewardship are deeply rooted in our business and our strategy. Our Legal Services Department provides continuing and relentless support to advance our sustainability journey where we reached our carbon neutrality goal in 2024 and submitted our science-based greenhouse gas emission reduction targets to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for validation. As part of the enhancement rolled out to adopt a holistic corporate responsibility framework for strengthening the integration of ESG considerations, our Legal Services Department also leads and facilitates the necessary reviews and assists in the implementation required on our business and operation models in promoting and championing sustainability and best-in-class governance practices to support the long-term and sustainable development of our business, markets and the wider communities.

How do you see AI and automation reshaping the legal profession, and how are you leveraging technology in your own legal team?

According to Thomson Reuters’ 2024 Future of Professionals Report 1 (with 2,200 professionals and C-level corporate executives from over 50 countries), 72% of legal professionals surveyed view AI as a force for good in their profession and half of law firm respondents cite exploring and implementing AI as their highest priority.

As a leading international exchange group and corporate leader, we continue to enhance market microstructure and infrastructure to promote the long-term prosperity and sustainability of our markets and communities in partnership with our customers, regulators and other stakeholders. All enhancements implemented during the year such as the relaxation of ETF eligibility requirements under Stock Connect, an updated list of eligible ETFs for Northbound and Southbound trading, and the introduction of International Monetary Market trades, backdated trades and solo compression service to Swap Connect would not be successful without the use of powerful technology that leverages advanced algorithms and machine learning to automate processes, gain insights from data, enhance decision-making and improve overall efficiency and productivity. With the evolution of AI and technologies, our Legal Services Department always remains open and is continuously learning and embracing AI as a transformative force in all aspects of the value chain process ranging from the review on terms and policies around AI governance, assessing data privacy concerns and implications, pre-empting cybersecurity exposures and associated resiliency actions and analysing legal impact arising from changes in business operating models to both our customers and the markets, on top of providing traditional legal advices to our business strategies and operations.

Within the Legal Services Department, our team members also leverage on AI tool (either through third party service provider or in house-built systems) to automate the tedious process of searching and editing information and creating linkages across documents /systems for better governance and efficiency proposes. We have also taken further steps to roll out departmental efficiencies (created through linkages between document signing and contract management systems) achieved to other departments in the firm which is evidenced by increasing firmwide adoption of the systems created and maintained by Legal Services Department.

While there will be unquestionably concerns around data integrity and accuracy from AI adoption that needs to monitor and assessed carefully, we remain optimistic and open on the positive impact of new developments in AI for better future efficiency opportunities.