On 27 April 2023, HSUHK’s Honours Academy (HA) was honoured to have been invited by Mr Wilfred Yiu, one of HA’s Professional Fellows, to visit Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), where Mr Yiu is the Co-Chief Operating Officer and Head of Equities. As part of the third cohort’s ‘HA2002: Service Leadership and Public Policy Engagement’ lecture, and sixth HA seminar, a total of 26 students from three cohorts joined the visit. At HKEX, Mr Yiu talked to students and gave them an overview of the current state of local and global financial markets, as well as a critical view on the strong performance of the Hong Kong stock market. HA students learned about the growth of the Chinese economy, the increasing significance of technology and the supportive regulatory environment in Hong Kong, as well as the growth of the Hong Kong stock market and the increasing number of companies in the Greater Bay Area and Southeast Asia that are choosing to list on HKEX. HKEX’s commitment to promoting sustainable finance and ESG practices within the exchange also inspired the students as it highlighted HKEX’s significant role in the global transition to a sustainable economy.

The students then received a tour of HKEX, including its Museum of Finance, which exhibits the role of finance in shaping the past, present and future of Hong Kong. On top of learning about the history of money and banking in Hong Kong, the development of the stock exchange, and the role of technology in modern finance, HA students also visited the Trading Hall, which has been preserved to look and sound just as it did in the 1980s, so that visitors can fully experience what being on the trading floor felt like at that time.

Having learned more about the importance of innovation, sustainability, and leadership in a global financial industry, the visit to HKEX was a very valuable learning experience for HA students.