Dr Anthony Neoh is a senior member of the Hong Kong Bar, active in civil appellate and international litigation and arbitration cases. He was a member of the Hong Kong Civil Service from 1966 to 1979. In 1979, he commenced private legal practice at the Hong Kong Bar. He returned to public office from 1995 to 2004, after which, he resumed private legal practice as a member of the Hong Kong Bar. This remains his principal profession to date.
Dr Neoh has contributed immensely to the construction and regulation of the capital markets in Hong Kong and Mainland China. He was Chief Advisor to the China Securities Regulatory Commission (“CSRC”) from November 1998 to June 2004 at the personal invitation of former Premier Zhu Rongji. He was a member of the International Advisory Board of the CSRC from 2004 to 2016. He was Chairman of the Securities and Futures Commission from 1995 to 1998. He was the first Asian to be elected Chairman of the Technical Committee of the International Organization of Securities Commissions, in which position he served from 1996 to 1998.
Prior to his appointment to the chair of the Securities and Futures Commission, he was in private legal practice. From 1991 to 1994, he was a member of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Council and its Listing Committee, and chaired its Disciplinary Committee and Debt Securities Group, and the Legal Committee of the Hong Kong and China Listing Working Group. He was chief architect of the legal structure, which made possible the listing of Chinese enterprises in Hong Kong from 1993.
From 1 July 1997 to 30 June 2007, he was a member of the Hong Kong SAR Basic Law Committee under the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. He has been appointed Arbitrator, China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission, Shenzhen International Arbitration Commission, Shanghai International Arbitration Commission, Hon. Legal Advisor to the Shenzhen Municipal Government, and Senior Economic Advisor to the Fujian Provincial and Tianjin City Governments. He was elected to the Standing Committee of the Chinese Institute for Judicial Studies, an institution under the People’s Supreme Court.
Dr Neoh served as Independent Non-Executive Director (“INED”) for a number of companies. He is presently an INED of New China life Limited, CITIC Limited, and ICBC. In ICBC, he is Chairman of the Risk Committee. He also served as Senior Advisor to the Board of the Bank of China Hong Kong from October 2001 to December 2005.
Dr Neoh is dedicated to public service and has served on a number of public boards and committees over the years. In 2016, upon formation of the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration, he was appointed Vice Chairman. On 1 June 2018, Dr Neoh was appointed as Chairman of the Hong Kong Independent Police Complaints Council to serve a term of 2 years. He is also appointed as Chairman, Asian Academy of International Law with effect from 1 July 2018. He is presently an Executive Committee Member of the Council and Treasurer of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, as well as a Council Member of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen. Dr Neoh was the Convenor of the HKMA Expert Group to study the feasibility of establishing an Academy of Finance in Hong Kong and a Member of the HKMA Preparatory Committee for the establishment of the Hong Kong Academy of Finance.
He was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws by The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2003. In 2009, he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Hong Kong Securities Institute and an Academician of the International Eurasian Academy of Science, and received the International Award for Distinguished Contribution to the Financial Services by the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts. In December 2013, he was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Social Science by The Open University of Hong Kong. In November 2016, he was also awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Social Science by Lingnan University.
He also held many adjunct, honorary and visiting professorial appointments in universities in the Mainland China and the Hong Kong SAR of China, including Adjunct Professor of the National College of Public Administration in Beijing and Visiting Professor to Peking University Law School and Guanghua Business School. He currently serves as Dean’s Visiting Professor at the National University of Singapore Faculty of Business, Visiting Professor at the Tsinghua Law School, and Honorary Professor of The Open University of Hong Kong.