(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong Exchange & Clearing Ltd. has replaced its strategy head James Fok, who was a key driver of its bid for the London Stock Exchange Group Plc. Till Rosar has been named his successor.
Fok will join the Hong Kong exchange's subsidiary London Metal Exchange as an adviser and the change is unrelated to the failed LSE bid, according to people familiar with the matter. Rosar's appointment to the strategy role took effect this month, they said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private.
The reshuffle is a setback to Fok, who was widely seen as an influential adviser to Chief Executive Officer Charles Li. Armed with experience from various Wall Street banks including Citigroup Inc. and Credit Suisse Group AG and a native Cantonese and English speaker, Fok has been steering HKEX's expansion strategy since taking on the role in 2016.
Fok didn't immediately respond to calls seeking comment. A spokesman for HKEX confirmed the changes without giving more details.
Unlike Fok, Rosar hasn't yet been included as part of the HKEX's management committee, the top decision-making body headed by Li, according to the bourse's website. Fok's name no longer appears on the list of committee members.
Following Hong Kong exchange's surprise 29.6 billion pound ($38.9 billion) bid for the London Stock Exchange last September, Fok addressed a briefing along with Li and HKEX Chairman Laura Cha. The exchange said the following month that it wouldn't proceed with the bid, giving up an effort to be a link between Europe and China.
Rosar, who joined HKEX in 2018 from Westpac Banking Corp., was most recently a senior vice president of group strategy at the bourse, according to his LinkedIn page.
--With assistance from Benjamin Robertson.
To contact the reporter on this story: Kiuyan Wong in Hong Kong at kwong739@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Candice Zachariahs at czachariahs2@bloomberg.net, Jun Luo, Katrina Nicholas
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