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By Alun John
HONG KONG, Sept 12 (Reuters) - When Hong Kong Exchangechief executive Charles Li described his company's surpriseoffer for the London Stock Exchange this week as a "a corporatetale of Romeo and Juliet," listeners outside Asia may have beensurprised by the colourful analogy.
But in Hong Kong, Li's fondness for extended metaphors arewell known and have made the charismatic former offshore oilworker, lawyer, journalist and investment banker a popularfigure at public events.
Li has run Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing since2010. Under his supervision, the exchange presents itself as agateway between China and the rest of the world, and hasbenefited from a wave of IPOs as giant Chinese companies raisedbillions from international investors.
The exchange has been the world's largest capital-raisingvenue in five of the past 10 years – an honour it split with theNew York Stock Exchange.
Li also oversaw the creation of "stock connect," in 2014, amechanism for Chinese investors to trade Hong Kong-listed sharesand international investors to trade shares listed in Shanghaiand Shenzhen. It is now the main channel into China forinvestors overseas.
A Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing representative declined tocomment for this article.
DEALMAKER
Market participants say Li's previous roles inform hisapproach to running the exchange.
"He is more of an investment banker than a traditional CEOof an exchange. Since taking over, he has been pursuing thisbolt-on as well as transformational acquisitions approach," saida financial M&A banker in Hong Kong, who was not authorised tospeak to the media.
Recently, HKEX has focused on buying small fintech playersto boost technology and data capabilities.
But Wednesday's shock announcement recalls HKEX's 2012purchase of the London Metal Exchange (LME), which ran intotrouble when HKEX raised trading fees.
After an angry response from traders, a change of course,and LME leadership, steadied the ship. LME traders now generallyspeak well of Li.
"He is a big personality, a great front man; he likesgetting on the stage and being bombastic and loud and the centreof attention," said the London-based head of one metalsbrokerage, who also declined to be identified because he was notauthorised to speak to the media. "This latest move is hugelyambitious, but if anybody can pull it off, it's Charles."
JPMorgan bankers say that when he was chairman of JPMorganChina between 2003 and 2009, he was known for his willingness totrust colleagues.
One said he often explained his attitude with a Chineseproverb: "If you use a man, don't suspect him. If you suspecthim, don't use him."
NAVIGATING HONG KONG
Beijing born-Li, despite speaking little Cantonese, hasmanaged to balance the competing demands of global investmentbanks, the Hong Kong government, which approves six of HKEX's 13board members, and Beijing, whose goodwill is crucial for itsgateway role.
After a multi-year campaign, Li in 2018 won approval toallow companies to list in Hong Kong with different classes ofshares - a more relaxed standard of governance. Before thechange, many Chinese tech companies chose a New York listing,including e-commerce giant Alibaba, whose 2014 $25 billion IPOis still a global record.
Li has not won over all groups in Hong Kong, though, notablythe city's army of small brokers, who have their ownrepresentative in the 70-seat Legislative Council.
"I think Charles Li is capable when it comes to developingand promoting HKEX internationally. But he doesn't take care ofsmall and medium brokers. This takeover is only one example,"said Christopher Cheung, a stockbroker and Hong Kong lawmaker,who said adapting to LSE systems would be a financial burden.
More important for the success of LSE takeover is whether Lican adapt to the requirements of London-based traders, as he dideventually at the LME.
A senior China banker, who has played football with Li, anavid fan of the game, said the exchange chief was well equippedto pull off the LSE bid.
"[Li's] sharp and direct views, exactly like his strength onthe football field as a striker, can always bring success to theteam, the region and its businesses," the banker said.
(Reporting by Alun John, Julie Zhu, Sumeet Chatterjee, JenniferHughes, Felix Tam, Lukas Job in Hong Kong, and Pratima Desai inLondon. Editing by Gerry Doyle)