Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) has appointed Andrew Loong as managing director and head of digital assets.
“[Loong] brings to us unique skillsets in the financial and legal sectors and has a wealth of experience driving digital assets and asset management platform strategies,” said Glenda So, HKEX group head of emerging business and fixed income and currency.
“His expertise will be invaluable to HKEX as we continue to grow our footprint in the digital assets space, harnessing the potentials of emerging megatrends and connecting today and tomorrow.”
As the head of digital assets, Loong will oversee the development of the digital assets ecosystem in HKEX’s markets, including digital product offerings and building robust digital infrastructure.
He will report to So and replaces Andrew Walton, who will leave the exchange in July.
Before joining the Hong Kong exchange, Loong was most recently working at a Singapore-based digital family office, where he oversaw digital asset product and operation development.
He has also worked at a number of major banks and financial institutions, such as the head of security token offering structuring at BC Technology Group.
Asian family offices and asset managers are showing growing interest in cryptocurrency and blockchain, according to a survey from Cerulli last October.
Meanwhile, the Hong Kong government also announced plans to develop an ecosystem for more investors to trade virtual assets in late October last year.
The proposals include issuing licences for virtual asset service providers and authorising virtual assets ETFs for retail investors.
