| The Honourable Sir David Kwok-po Li GBM, GBS, OBE, JP |
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|---|---|
| Sir David Li Kwok-po at Horasis Global China Business Meeting 2009 [1] | |
| Member of the Legislative Council | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 26 September 1985 (26 years, 150 days) |
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| Constituency | Finance |
| Member of the Executive Council | |
| In office October 2005 – 16 February 2008 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 13 March 1939 London, England, United Kingdom |
| Alma mater | St. Joseph College |
Sir David Li Kwok-po, GBM, GBS, OBE, JP (Chinese: 李國寶; born 13 March 1939, London, England) is a Hong Kong banker and politician.
He is the current Chairman and Chief Executive of the Bank of East Asia, member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong and former member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong.
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Li's family roots are in Heshan, Guangdong. His great-grandfather, Li Shek-tang, made his fortune bringing rice to Hong Kong from Vietnam. In 1918, Li's great uncle and his grandfather, Li Koon-chun, founded the Bank of East Asia, the first Chinese-owned bank in the territory.[2]
Li was educated at Uppingham School in the United Kingdom and read Law at Selwyn College, University of Cambridge. He received a Honorary doctorate in law from the University of Warwick in July 1994 and another one from the University of Hong Kong in March 1996. In November 1996, he received an honourary doctorate of social sciences from Lingnan College.[3] Li joined the Bank of East Asia in 1969, becoming Chief Executive in 1981 and Chairman in 1997.
David Li is currently a member of the Legislative Council, elected in the functional constituency of Finance in 2004. He is also the current Pro-Chancellor of The University of Hong Kong. He was also appointed member of the Executive Council in October 2005, after renouncing his British citizenship. He resigned from the post in February 2008.
Li's wife is Penny Li-Poon Kim Tsui (Chinese: 李潘金翠). Arthur Li, former Secretary for Education and Manpower, is his younger brother.
Li is also a director at several Hong Kong listed companies including fixed line phone carrier PCCW, SCMP Group and Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels. In addition, he is chairman of the Chinese Banks Association Ltd.[4]
On 1 May 2007, News Corporation made a public announcement of its bid for Dow Jones & Company. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission filed an initial complaint seven days later naming Wong Kan-king and his wife Charlotte, both residents of Hong Kong, as defendants after its investigation of suspicious share price movements in the run-up to the announcement. The SEC alleged that the couple purchased 415,000 shares through a Merrill Lynch Hong Kong account between from 13 April until 30 April,[5] and had reaped a US$8.2 million profit on disposal following announcement of the bid.[6]
The SEC later filed an amended complaint ("The First Amended Complaint") identifying the source of the information as David Li, who had obtained the information by being a board member of Dow Jones. The SEC alleged that Li had informed his close friend and business associate Michael Leung, who in turn told his daughter and son-in-law. The amended complaint added David Li and Michael Leung as co-defendants and details how Leung traded through the account of his daughter and son-in-law with their assistance.[5][7]
At the end of January 2008, a settlement was reached where Li was ordered to pay an $8.1 million civil penalty, Leung to pay $8.1 million in disgorgement and an $8.1 million penalty; K. K. Wong would pay $40,000 in disgorgement plus prejudgment interest and a $40,000 civil penalty.[5] Li would neither admit nor deny any wrongdoing[7]
Li's integrity is being questioned by Legislators, and corporate gadfly David Webb was the first to put Li under pressure to relinquish his position as a member of both the Legislative and the Executive Councils of Hong Kong because of his implication in the affair.[8] Several other legislators added to the pressure for Li to relinquish his cabinet (Exco) position,[4][9] although there are divergent views on his continued LegCo membership.[10] On February 17, 2008, Li announced his resignation from Exco.[11]
Li was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1991 New Year Honours.[12] In 2001, he was awarded the Gold Bauhinia Star by the government of Hong Kong.
In the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was made a Knight Bachelor by the United Kingdom for his contributions to British education.[13] He also has honorary doctorates from University of Cambridge, Imperial College [14] and the University of Hong Kong. Li was awarded the Grand Bauhinia Medal in 2007.
| Legislative Council of Hong Kong | ||
|---|---|---|
| New seat | Member of Legislative Council Representative for Finance constituency 1998 – present |
Incumbent |
| Order of precedence | ||
| Preceded by Lee Cheuk-yan Member of the Legislative Council |
Hong Kong order of precedence Member of the Legislative Council |
Succeeded by Fred Li Member of the Legislative Council |
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