Saxo Markets Hong Kong appoints Richard Douglas as CEO
HONG KONG, 31 May 2021 – Saxo Markets, the online trading and investment specialist that
connects people to investment opportunities in global capital markets, today announced the
immediate appointment of Richard Douglas as CEO for Saxo Markets in Hong Kong. Fan Xu,
CEO of Greater China, will move into the role of CEO, Saxo FinTech, a joint venture between
Saxo and Geely, its majority shareholder.
Kim Fournais, CEO and Founder, Saxo Bank, comments: “We believe that scaling and growing
our Hong Kong business is critical to achieving our broader ambitions in the region, including
building a strong partnership business. Richard has been an instrumental part of our Group
Technology leadership team before, when he was based in Copenhagen. With his experience
in the region and robust understanding of the business both on the technology and the
commercial front, we are pleased to appoint him as CEO for Hong Kong and look forward to
growing the business.”
“Saxo FinTech is a very important partnership for us and our majority shareholder, Geely, and
with Fan fully dedicating his time to this joint venture, we are confident that Saxo FinTech will
continue to grow strongly,” Kim Fournais adds.
Before this appointment, Douglas held the role of Chief Operating Officer and Chief Information
Officer (Greater China). In his new role as CEO, Douglas will take on responsibility for both
Saxo’s Hong Kong and Shanghai offices, leading the overall business development and
strategy of the bank’s commercial activities and further grow the Saxo brand in both markets.
“I am very honoured to take on this appointment. Saxo is on an exciting journey of
transformation globally, and in Hong Kong we have a huge opportunity to become more
relevant for more people, through our expanded offerings for investors and continued
commitment to improving the client experience. As China’s economy and capital markets
continue to open up, Saxo is uniquely positioned to continue to connect our clients to global
capital market opportunities through the trading and investment opportunities available on our
platforms. I look forward to continue to build on the strong foundation set by Fan and the
team,” Douglas comments.
Based in Hong Kong, Douglas will report to Adam Reynolds, Asia Pacific CEO, Saxo Markets.
Before moving to Denmark in 2017, Douglas was based in Hong Kong for six years and thus has
a unique perspective and experience working in Asia. Douglas’ 18+ years of experience has
been almost solely in the financial services industry, having previously worked at investment
banks Macquarie, Nomura, Citi and UBS in London, Sydney and Hong Kong.
Patrick Chung will succeed Douglas as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Information Officer
(Greater China), reporting into Ashok Kalyanswamy, Chief Information Officer, Saxo Bank. He
will be responsible for all technology staff, platforms and deliverables in the region.
As CEO of Saxo FinTech, Xu will continue to drive the growth of the JV, which is based in
Chongqing, building products and services focused on trading technology, social technology
and regulatory technology.
“Saxo FinTech is critical in driving the growth of Saxo in the region, as there is a lot of
synergies and opportunities not just with Saxo but also with partners, and where we can provide our offerings as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). I look forward to advancing the Saxo FinTech business in collaboration with the team and with Richard,” Xu comments.
Echo Zhao, Country Head of China, will be leaving Saxo Group. Saxo would like to sincerely thank Echo for her many years of service across a number of different Saxo offices and wish her the very best in her future endeavours.
Yvette Lim
Head of PR APAC and Strategic Communications
Saxo Bank
+45 31 39 45 04 (DK)
yvel@saxobank.com
Saxo Markets is a licensed subsidiary of Saxo Bank, a leading Fintech specialist that connects people to investment opportunities in global capital markets. In Hong Kong, Saxo Markets has operated since 2011 and has been serving as a gateway for Saxo in the region. As a provider of multi-asset trading and investment, Saxo Bank’s vision is to enable people to fulfil their financial aspirations and make an impact. Saxo’s user-friendly and personalised platform experience gives investors exactly what they need, when they need it, no matter if they want to actively trade global markets or invest into their future.
Founded in 1992, Saxo Bank was one of the first financial institutions to develop an online trading platform that provided private investors with the same tools and market access as professional traders, large institutions, and fund managers. Saxo combines an agile fintech mindset with close to 30 years of experience and track record in global capital markets to deliver a state-of-the-art experience to clients. The Saxo Bank Group holds four banking licenses and is well regulated globally. Saxo offers clients around the world broad access to global capital markets across asset classes, where they can trade more than 71,000 instruments in over 33 languages from one single margin account. The Saxo Bank Group also powers more than 150 financial institutions as partners by boosting the investment experience they can offer their clients via its open banking technology.
Headquartered in Copenhagen, Saxo Bank’s client assets total more than 115 billion USD and the company has more than 2,300 financial and technology professionals in financial centres around the world including London, Singapore, Amsterdam, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Paris, Zurich, Dubai and Tokyo.