Sir David Li Kwok-po (; born 13 March 1939, London, England) is a Hong Kong banker and politician. He is the Executive Chairman of the

Bank of East Asia The Bank of East Asia Limited, often abbreviated to BEA, is a Hong Kong banking and financial services company, headquartered in Central, Hong Kong. It is currently the largest independent local Hong Kong bank, and one of two remaining family ...

and Pro-Chancellor of the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the f ...

. He was a member of the

Legislative Council of Hong Kong The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (LegCo) is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under China's " one country, two systems" constitutional arrangement, and is the power centre of Hong Ko ...

and the

Executive Council of Hong Kong The Executive Council of Hong Kong (ExCo) is the cabinet of the Government of Hong Kong, acting as a formal body of advisers to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong that serves as a core policy-making organ assisting the Chief Executive. It is ...

in the 2000s.

Family background

The

Li family Li, li, or LI may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Landscape Institute, a British professional body for landscape architects * Leadership Institute, a non-profit organization located in Arlington, Virginia, US, that teaches "political te ...

with roots in Heshan,

Jiangmen Jiangmen (), alternately romanized in Cantonese as Kongmoon, is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong Province in southern China. As of the 2020 census, its three urban districts, plus Heshan City being conurbated, with 2,657,662 inhabitants a ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

, China has long had a prominent position in Hong Kong. David Li's great-grandfather, Li Shek-tang, made his fortune bringing rice to Hong Kong from

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. In 1918, Li's grandfather, Li Koon-chun, along with his great-uncle, founded the

, the first Chinese-owned bank in the territory. His father, Li Fook-shu, was a director of the

, an Unofficial member of the Legislative Council and council member of the

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public research university in Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong, formally established in 1963 by a charter granted by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It is the territory's second-oldest university and ...

. Li's younger brother is

Arthur Li Kwok-cheung Arthur Li Kwok-cheung, Grand Bauhinia Medal, GBM, Gold Bauhinia Star, GBS justice of the peace, JP (; born 27 June 1945) is a Hong Kong doctor and politician. He is currently member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong, Executive Council of ...

, former

Secretary for Education and Manpower The Secretary for Education is a principal official in the Hong Kong Government, who heads the Education Bureau (EDB). The current office holder is Christine Choi. History The position of Secretary for Education and Manpower was set up in 198 ...

and Chairman of the Council of the University of Hong Kong. David's cousins include the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal's first Chief Justice Andrew Li Kwok-nang. One of his uncles is the late Simon Li Fook-sean, a senior judge who ran in the first election for chief executive in 1996, whose daughter is prominent democrat, barrister

Gladys Li Gladys Veronica Li, QC, SC (; born 1948), is a Barrister in England, a Senior Counsel at the Hong Kong Bar with a constitutional law and human rights practice, and a founding member of the Hong Kong Civic Party. Career Li began to take an int ...

, and another the late Ronald Li Fook-siu, the disgraced former chairman of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Education

Li was educated at

Uppingham School Uppingham School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils 13-18) in Uppingham, Rutland, England, founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson, the Archdeacon of Leicester, who also established Oakham School. The headma ...

in the United Kingdom. He studied mathematics at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

, and then studied economics and law at Selwyn College,

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

. He received an honorary doctorate in law from the

University of Warwick , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020� ...

in July 1994 and another one from the

in March 1996. In November 1996, he received an honorary doctorate of social sciences from Lingnan College. Li joined the Bank of East Asia in 1969, becoming Chief Executive in 1981 and Chairman in 1997.

Political and academic positions

Li was a member of the Legislative Council, elected unopposed in the Finance

functional constituency A functional constituency is an electoral device (a non-geographical constituency) used within the political systems of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China: * Functional constituency (Hong Kong) * Functional cons ...

in 2004 and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. From October 2005 until his resignation in February 2008, he was a member of the Executive Council, appointed after renouncing his

British citizenship British nationality law prescribes the conditions under which a person is recognised as being a national of the United Kingdom. The six different classes of British nationality each have varying degrees of civil and political rights, due to the ...

. He is currently Pro-Chancellor of the

Board memberships

Li is also a director at several Hong Kong listed companies including fixed line phone carrier

PCCW PCCW Limited (formerly known as Pacific Century CyberWorks Limited) is a Hong Kong-based information and communications technology (ICT) company. The company is the majority owner of telecommunications company HKT Limited, and also holds a m ...

SCMP Group The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remained ...

and Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels. In addition, he is chairman of the Chinese Banks Association Ltd.Nipa Piboontanasawat
"Hong Kong Banker David Li Quits City's Cabinet After SEC Payout"
Bloomberg, 17 February 2008

Legal issues

Dow Jones

On 1 May 2007,

News Corporation News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in New ...

made a public announcement of its bid for Dow Jones & Company. The

United States Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against marke ...

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 13 to 30 April,The News Corp-Dow Jones Insider Trading Case: A Significant Settlement
''SEC Actions'', 6 February 2008 and had reaped a US$8.2 million profit on disposal following announcement of the bid.Eric Dash and Andrew Ross Sorkin,
"Inquiry expected into possible Dow Jones insider trading"
'' International Herald Tribune'', 8 May 2007 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.Benjamin Scent
"Li 'to pay $62m' to settle insider case"
, '' The Standard'', 29 January 2008 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 Disgorgement is defined by ''Black's Law Dictionary'' as "the act of giving up something (such as profits illegally obtained) on demand or by legal compulsion." Overview Disgorgement is a remedy or penalty used in US securities law. For exampl ...

and an $8.1 million penalty; K. K. Wong would pay $40,000 in disgorgement plus prejudgment interest and a $40,000 civil penalty. Li would neither admit nor deny any wrongdoing. 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. Several other legislators added to the pressure for Li to relinquish his cabinet (Exco) position, although there are divergent views on his continued LegCo membership. On 17 February 2008, Li announced his resignation from Exco.

Donald Tsang Yam-kuen

In January 2017, prosecutors claimed that, in July 2010, Li had assisted the then Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Donald Tsang Sir Donald Tsang Yam-kuen (; born 7 October 1944) is a former Hong Kong civil servant who served as the second Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2005 to 2012. Tsang joined the colonial civil service as an Executive Officer in 1967, occupyi ...

Yam-kuen (through Tsang's wife) in the latter's attempt to cover up an alleged corrupt deal to secure a super-luxury apartment in Shenzhen, by drawing a HK$350,000 cash cheque and passing the money to Tsang's wife.

Awards and recognition

Li was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1991

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

. In 2001, he was awarded the

Gold Bauhinia Star The Gold Bauhinia Star (, GBS) is the highest Bauhinia Star rank in the honours system of Hong Kong, created in 1997 to replace the British honours system of the Order of the British Empire after the transfer of sovereignty to People's Republic of ...

by the government of Hong Kong. In the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was made a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are th ...

by the United Kingdom for his contributions to British education. He also has

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

s from the

,"LegCo Members' Biographies"

the University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fir ...

and

the Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public research university in Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong, formally established in 1963 by a charter granted by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It is the territory's second-oldest university ...

. Li was awarded the

Grand Bauhinia Medal The Grand Bauhinia Medal () is the highest award under the Hong Kong honours and awards system; it is to recognise the selected person's lifelong and highly significant contribution to the well-being of Hong Kong. The awardee is entitled to the ...

in 2007.

References

External links

David Li biodata at the Legislative Council of Hong Kong website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, David 1939 births Alumni of Selwyn College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Warwick Hong Kong billionaires Hong Kong bankers Hong Kong chief executives Knights Bachelor Living people Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Uppingham School Recipients of the Gold Bauhinia Star Recipients of the Grand Bauhinia Medal Bankers from London Members of the Provisional Legislative Council Hong Kong Anglicans HK LegCo Members 1985–1988 HK LegCo Members 1988–1991 HK LegCo Members 1991–1995 HK LegCo Members 1995–1997 HK LegCo Members 1998–2000 HK LegCo Members 2000–2004 HK LegCo Members 2004–2008 HK LegCo Members 2008–2012 Members of the Preparatory Committee for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Hong Kong Basic Law Drafting Committee members Hong Kong Affairs Advisors Members of the Selection Committee of Hong Kong Li family of Hong Kong