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    The Financial Secretary has re-appointed seven members and appointed five new members to the Advisory Committee of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) under the authority delegated by the Chief Executive.

    The appointments will be for two years from June 1, 2005, to May 31, 2007.

    The re-appointed members are Mr Thaddeus Beczak, Mr Ambrose Cheung, Mr Paul Chow, Mr Paul Fan, Ms Christine Loh, Mr Samuel Poon and Mr Blair Pickerell.  

    The new appointees are Mr Henry Chan, Mr Jack Maisano, Mr Peter Sullivan, Ms Ada Tse and Mr Yip Lai-shing.  Mr Henry Chan is the Chairman of the Hong Kong Stockbrokers Association; Mr Jack Maisano is the President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong; Mr Peter Sullivan is the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank (HK) Limited; Ms Ada Tse is the Managing Director and Head of Asian Direct Investment of AIG Global Investment Group Asia; and Mr Yip Lai-shing is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Ping An Securities Company Limited.

    Announcing the appointment today (May 30), a government spokesman said the committee comprised representatives from a wide array of professions who provided diverse, independent and impartial advice to the SFC on policy and market development matters.

    The spokesman thanked Mr Stephen Hui, Mr Roger Luk and Dr Eden Woon for their contribution upon their retirement from the work of the committee.  "We are thankful to Mr Hui, Mr Luk and Dr Woon for their invaluable advice to the SFC for the betterment of the securities and futures market in Hong Kong," the spokesman said.

    The Advisory Committee is a statutory committee established under section 7 of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571) to advise the SFC on policy matters regarding its regulatory objectives and functions.  

    Apart from government appointees, the advisory committee also includes the SFC chairman and two executive directors appointed by the SFC.

Ends/Monday, May 30, 2005

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