HONG KONG, March 23 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's securities
regulator said on Wednesday it had hired Thomas Atkinson, the
head of enforcement at Canada's Ontario Securities Commission,
to take on a similar role in Hong Kong.
Atkinson will begin a three-year term as executive director
of enforcement at the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) on
May 3, the SFC said in a statement. He replaces Mark Steward who
left in September to join the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct
Authority.
Industry sources said Atkinson's appointment was a coup for
the SFC, which had been struggling to fill the enforcement role
since Steward's departure was announced in June last year.
Atkinson joined Canada's biggest securities regulator in
2009, prior to which he worked for investment regulator Market
Regulation Services Inc, which he helped to found, and the
Toronto Stock Exchange.