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The Government announced today (March 1) the appointment of Ms Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah as the Chairman and other Directors to the Board of the Financial Dispute Resolution Centre Limited (FDRC), and the appointment of Ms Sou Chiam as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the FDRC. The appointments take effect today.
The FDRC was incorporated as a limited company by guarantee to administer an independent and impartial dispute resolution scheme with an aim to resolve monetary disputes between individuals and financial institutions through "mediation first, arbitration next".
Financial institutions regulated by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) will be obligated to be members of the financial dispute resolution scheme.
The FDRC is governed by a Board of Directors to oversee its operation and formulate the overall policy and strategy. The Chairman and the following four non-official members are appointed on an in personam basis for a term of two years:
Chairman:
Ms Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah
Members:
Mr Brian Fung Wei-lung
Ms Connie Lau Yin-hing
Ms Barbara Shiu
Ms Anna Wu Hung-yuk
The Board of Directors also includes the following ex-officio members:
- Ms Julia Leung Fung-yee, representative from the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau
- Ms Meena Datwani, representative from the HKMA
- Mr Mark Robert Steward, representative from the SFC
- Ms Sou Chiam, CEO of the FDRC
Ms Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah is a senior counsel. She has a distinguished record of public service and arbitration experience. She is currently a Vice President of the International Chamber of Commerce International Court of Arbitration, Vice President of the International Council of Commercial Arbitration, Vice Chairperson of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, and the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes arbitrator designated by the Chairman. She was the first Asian woman elected as the president for 2008 of a global organisation, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
"We are confident that, under her able leadership, the public would recognise the use of the FDRC's dispute resolution mechanism to resolve monetary disputes in a speedy manner fair to all parties concerned," the spokesman said.
Ms Sou Chiam was selected through an open recruitment exercise by a selection panel. Her appointment is for a term of three years.
"The selection panel recognised Ms Chiam's extensive leadership, legal and financial services experience and expertise in mediation, and considered her highly capable and qualified to build a robust foundation for the FDRC," the spokesman said.
Ms Chiam is a barrister-at-law with extensive legal, policy and management experience. She was Senior Legal Counsel and Head of the Human Rights Policy Unit in the New Zealand Human Rights Commission. She was part of senior management in the financial services industry and was a law lecturer. Most recently, she was the Secretary to the Mediation Task Force chaired by the Secretary for Justice. Ms Chiam will spearhead the preparatory work to enable the FDRC to be in operation by mid-2012.
Ends/Thursday, March 1, 2012
Issued at HKT 14:30
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