Chang Chen-yuan

Cheung Chun-yuen (Chinese: 張震遠; English: Barry Cheung Chun-yuen; born 15 February 1958), courtesy name Kong-sang, born in British Hong Kong, ancestral hometown Yangxin Town, Yangxin County, Hubei Province. He is former Chairman of the Board of the Hong Kong Futures Exchange, former independent non-executive director of United Company RUSAL, and from 2001 a board member of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA), becoming its Chairman in 2007 and reappointed in April 2013. He has chaired the Discipline Officers' Salaries and Conditions of Service Standing Committee, acted as interim chair for the Remuneration Trends Survey Committee, served on the Strategy Development Committee, the Civil Service Salaries and Conditions of Service Standing Committee, the Honours Advisory Committee, and the Long Term Housing Strategy Steering Committee. He was appointed Non-official Member of Hong Kong's Executive Council from 1 July 2012 to 24 May 2013 by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying. On 24 May 2013, Cheung resigned all public offices at Leung's approval. He was declared bankrupt on 15 April 2015. On 23 April 2015, he was sentenced to six weeks imprisonment for owing unpaid wages to former staff of the Futures Exchange, later reduced on appeal to 160 hours of community service. On 23 July 2020, he received a four-year prison sentence for conspiracy to defraud.

Biography

Cheung was born into a pro-Kuomintang and anti-Chinese Communist Party family in Hong Kong. His father, Cheung Hon-sung (birth name Cheung Siu-chau), a member of the Kuomintang from Hubei, served as Director of aid committees for refugees in Tiu Keng Leng and later as head of the China Cultural Association in Hong Kong. His mother, Lo Wan-chun, was from Shandong. His family includes notable relatives: cousin Lo Ping (former director of the Guanghua Cultural Centre, Hong Kong) and uncle Lo Yau-yu (a martyr of the 1911 Revolution). Cheung has three older brothers and two younger sisters. He attended Tiu Keng Leng Lutheran School and Catholic Ming Yuen College, later earning a first-class honours degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Sussex, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He worked at McKinsey & Company in Hong Kong, seconded to the Central Policy Unit in 1993 as a full-time adviser to senior officials, then served as executive director and vice-chairman of China-backed Taishan Petrochemical in 2004. On 1 January 2005, he was appointed Chairman of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) Corruption Prevention Advisory Committee. On 24 April 2007, he became Chairman of the URA board. In 2008, he joined the Civil Service Salaries and Conditions of Service Standing Committee until 2012.

Career Highlights

• A key supporter of Leung Chun-ying during the 2012 Chief Executive election, earning the nickname "Chief Leung Fan". He paused public roles to chair Leung's campaign and returned to office after the election.
• Appointed to the Executive Council on 1 July 2012.
• On 18 April 2013, extended URA chairmanship beyond the customary six-year limit due to board restructuring.
• On 20 May 2013, admitted borrowing HKD 8 million in 2010 from former legislator James Tien while denying debts to major developers. Hong Kong Futures Exchange returned its trading license on 18 May 2013 due to financial strain, raising concerns over Cheung’s suitability for high public office.
• On 21 May 2013, Cheung applied to temporarily step down from all public roles, which was accepted by Chief Executive Leung, becoming the second ExCo member to take indefinite leave.
• On 24 May 2013, he fully resigned from all public offices.
• In early 2014, non-executive director Leung Chi-hon of Sunlee Holdings initiated bankruptcy proceedings against Cheung. On 15 April 2015, he was officially declared bankrupt over debts of at least HKD 120 million.
• On 23 April 2015, Cheung was jailed for six weeks for unpaid wages but was granted leave to appeal; a court later reduced the sentence to 160 hours of community service in September 2015.
• On 10 August 2017, he was arrested for concealing the financial condition of the Futures Exchange and suspected of conspiracy to defraud.
• On 17 July 2020, a district court found him guilty of two counts—conspiracy to defraud the Securities and Futures Commission and defrauding a financial company. He was sentenced to four years in prison on 23 July 2020, with a five-year prohibition on directorship.
• On 5 January 2018, the Official Receiver’s Office filed for disqualification, and on 6 March 2018, he was disqualified from serving as a company director for six years, as formalized on 25 April 2018.
• On 11 November 2022, Cheung was stripped of the Gold Bauhinia Star and his Justice of the Peace designation.

Trivia

• Known as "King of Public Offices" for holding multiple major public positions and breaking the six-year leadership tenure precedent after his reappointment as URA chairman.