imported>Ser Amantio di Nicolao: Moving from Category:Members of Committee of 100 to Category:Members of the Committee of 100 using Cat-a-lot

2025-02-02T19:13:05Z

Moving from Category:Members of Committee of 100 to Category:Members of the Committee of 100 using Cat-a-lot

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{{short description|American lawyer}}

{{family name hatnote|1=[[Cha (Chinese surname)|Cha]] [[Shí (surname)|Shih]]|2=Laura Cha Shih|3=Cha Shih May-lung|lang=Hong Kong}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2014}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Honourable]]
| name = Laura Cha
| native_name = {{nobold|史美倫}}
| native_name_lang = zh-hk
| honorific-suffix = [[Grand Bauhinia Medal|GBM]] [[Gold Bauhinia Star|GBS]] [[Justice of Peace|JP]]
| image = Laura Cha 2022.jpg
| caption = Cha in 2022
| birth_name = Shih May-lung
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1949|12|05}}
| birth_place = [[Shanghai]], [[Republic of China (1912-1949)|China]]
| office = Non-official Member of the [[Executive Council of Hong Kong]]
| term_start = 19 October 2004
| term_end = 30 June 2022
| 1namedata = [[Tung Chee-hwa]] [[Donald Tsang]] [[Leung Chun-ying]] [[Carrie Lam]]
| 1blankname = Chief Executive
| office1 = HK Deputy to the NPC
| term_start1 = 2008
| term_end1 = 2018
| 1blankname2 = [[National People's Congress|Congress]]
| 1namedata2 = [[11th National People's Congress|11th NPC]] [[12th National People's Congress|12th NPC]]
| 1blankname1 = Chairman
| 1namedata1 = [[Wu Bangguo]]
| alma_mater = [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]]) [[Santa Clara University]] ([[Juris Doctor|JD]])
}}
{{Chinese|title=Laura Cha Shih May-lung|t=查史美倫|s=查史美伦|p=Zhā Shǐ Měilún|j=Caa4 Si2 Mei5leon4|y=Chàh Sí Méihlèuhn|first=t}}

'''Laura Cha Shih May-lung''', [[Grand Bauhinia Medal|GBM]], [[Gold Bauhinia Star|GBS]], [[Justice of Peace|JP]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Executive Council of Hong Kong SAR|url=http://www.ceo.gov.hk/exco/eng/laura_m_cha.html|publisher=Government of Hong Kong|accessdate=5 July 2012}}</ref> ({{zh-t|
查史美倫}}; born 5 December 1949<ref name="hsbc">{{cite press release|title=Greater China regulation and policy expert joins HSBC board |url=http://www.hsbc.com/1/2/newsroom/news/2011/expert-joins-hsbc-board#top|publisher= HSBC Holdings plc|date=25 February 2011|accessdate=17 April 2011}}</ref>) is a Hong Kong businesswoman and politician. She is the Chairman of [[Hong Kong Stock Exchange]] and Non-Executive Deputy Chairman of [[The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation]]. She served as a non-official member of the [[Executive Council of Hong Kong]] from 2004 to 2022.

== Early life and education ==
On 5 December 1949, Cha was born in [[Shanghai]], China. At age 2, Cha and her family moved to [[British Hong Kong]].<ref name="iv_cha">(1 May 2002){{cite web |title= China's Iron Lady |url=http://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article.aspx?articleID=1027445& |publisher = [[Institutional Investor (magazine)|Institutional Investor]] |access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref>

Cha earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]] and a [[Juris Doctor]] degree from the [[Santa Clara University School of Law]].<ref name="calbar_cha"/> She was a member of the [[Committee of 100 (United States)|Committee of 100]], a Chinese American political and cultural organisation.<ref name="hsbc"/>

== Career ==
In 1983, Cha was admitted to the State Bar of California as Laura May-Lung Cha.<ref name="calbar_cha">(3 June 1983){{cite web |title=The State Bar of California - Bar number 107938 (Laura May-Lung Cha) |url=http://members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/Member/Detail/107938 |access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref> Cha practised law with [[Pillsbury Madison and Sutro]], one of the powerful law firms in San Francisco, California. Since 1994, Cha no longer practices law in [[California]].<ref name="calbar_cha"/>

After her return to Hong Kong, Cha continued practising law with [[Coudert Brothers]]. She worked at Hong Kong's [[Securities and Futures Commission]] from 1991 to early 2001, becoming its deputy chairman in 1998. When she gave notice at the SFC in mid-2000, Cha was mulling a change and wanted to take things easier. Then came the CSRC's unexpected offer, which would make her the first overseas Chinese ever to hold vice ministerial rank in China's government. Though she had not worked in China before, Cha had established close relationships with senior CSRC executives over the years by working with them to list state-owned mainland companies on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Cha served as Hong Kong's delegate to the [[11th National People's Congress]], Vice-Chairman of the International Advisory Council of the CSRC, Chairman of the [[University Grants Committee (Hong Kong)|University Grants Committee in Hong Kong]], and a member of the advisory board of the Millstein Center of Corporate Governance and Performance at [[Yale University]].{{when|date=March 2013}}

Cha was Vice-Chairman of the [[China Securities Regulatory Commission]] (CSRC) from 2001 to 2004. Cha was appointed to the post by the [[State Council of the People's Republic of China]] and became the first person outside [[mainland China]] to join the [[central government|Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China]] at the vice-ministerial rank. Cha [[renunciation of United States citizenship|renounced US citizenship]] to take up the position.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.singtao.com/archive/fullstory.asp?andor=or&year1=2001&month1=2&day1=14&year2=2001&month2=2&day2=14&category=all&id=20010214d04&keyword1=&keyword2=|title=查太放棄美國籍移居北京|trans-title=Mrs. Cha renounced U.S. citizenship and moved to Beijing|work=[[Sing Tao Daily]]|date=14 February 2001|accessdate=27 March 2013}}</ref>

In 2012, Cha was named an Honorary Fellow by the Hong Kong Securities and Investment Institute.{{cn|date=August 2022}}

She has been a Non-Executive Director of [[Unilever]] since May 2013.<ref>{{cite web|title=Laura Cha|url=https://www.unilever.com/about/who-we-are/our-leadership/laura-cha.html|website=[[Unilever]]|accessdate=1 May 2018}}</ref>

==2014 Hong Kong protests controversy==
Cha was reported by ''[[The Standard (Hong Kong)|The Standard]]'' to have likened the pro-Occupy activists demand for democracy in the [[2014 Hong Kong protests]] to the emancipation of African-American slaves at a conference at Paris, asking why [[Universal Suffrage]] "could not wait" for Hong Kongers in light of the [[African American#History|historical disenfranchisement of African Americans]].<ref name=Reuters>{{cite news|title=Thousands denounce HSBC board member's likening of Hong Kong people to freed slaves|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-china-idUSKBN0IK0DV20141031|publisher=Reuters|date=31 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Don't be a slave to reform, says finance figure|url=http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?art_id=150907&con_type=1|work=The Standard|date=30 October 2014}}</ref> Her remarks were criticised on social media, with a petition to the board of directors of [[HSBC]] on [[Change.org]] stating that the signatories, "will not stand these remarks likening our rights to slavery, nor will we stand the kind of voter disenfranchisement her and her associates attempt to perpetrate on the Hong Kong public."<ref name=Reuters/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://whbl.com/news/articles/2014/oct/31/thousands-denounce-hsbc-board-members-likening-of-hong-kong-people-to-freed-slaves/ |title=Thousands denounce HSBC board member's likening of Hong Kong people to freed slaves - News - 1330 WHBL Sheboygan's News Radio |website=whbl.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031170404/http://whbl.com/news/articles/2014/oct/31/thousands-denounce-hsbc-board-members-likening-of-hong-kong-people-to-freed-slaves/ |archive-date=2014-10-31}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Cha is married and has two children. Cha's husband, [[Victor Cha Mou Zing|Victor]], is a prominent Hong Kong businessman.<ref name="iv_cha"/><ref name="scmp_cha">(11 October 2011){{cite web |title= Laura Cha - Executive councillor |url=http://www.scmp.com/article/981485/laura-cha-executive-councillor |work = [[South China Morning Post]] |date=11 October 2011 |access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref> Cha renounced her United States citizenship prior to taking a position with China.<ref name="iv_cha"/>

== Awards and recognitions ==
On 12 May 2011, Cha was an honored by [[Committee of 100 (United States)|Committee of 100]] for her philanthropic contributions to higher education at the 20th Awards Gala in New York, U.S.<ref name="committee100_cha2011">(26 January 2011) {{cite web |title= Laura Cha and Henry Paulson to be Honored by Committee of 100 for Contributions to Philanthropy and U.S.-China Relations |url=https://committee100.org/blog/2011/01/26/laura-cha-and-henry-paulson-to-be-honored-by-committee-of-100-for-contributions-to-philanthropy-and/ | publisher = [[Committee of 100 (United States)]] |access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref>

Cha was awarded the Grand Bauhinia Medal (GBM) by the Hong Kong SAR Government in 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gia.info.gov.hk/general/201706/30/P2017062900879_262114_1_1498740755626.pdf |title=Appendix to the 2017 Honours List |publisher=Hong Kong SAR Government|date = 1 July 2017 |accessdate=5 October 2020}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Hong Kong|Biography}}
*[http://www.ceo.gov.hk/exco/eng/laura_m_cha.html The Hon. Laura Cha, GBS, JP]
*[http://www.hksi.org/hksi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=203&Itemid=192&lang=en HKSI Hon Fellow Interview – Laura Cha]
* [http://www.makers.com/china/laura-cha-shih-maylung Laura Cha Shin May-Lung] Video produced by ''[[Makers: Women Who Make America]]''
* [http://www.hsbc.com/about-hsbc/leadership/lml-cha Laura Cha's profile at HSBC]

{{s-start}}
{{s-prec}}
{{s-before|before = [[Rimsky Yuen]] ''Recipients of the Grand Bauhinia Medal''}}
{{s-ttl|title = [[Hong Kong order of precedence]] ''Recipients of the Grand Bauhinia Medal''}}
{{s-aft|after = [[Fanny Law]] ''Recipients of the Grand Bauhinia Medal''}}
{{s-end}}

{{HSBC Group}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cha, Laura}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Delegates to the 11th National People's Congress from Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Delegates to the 12th National People's Congress from Hong Kong]]
[[Category:HSBC people]]
[[Category:Hong Kong financial businesspeople]]
[[Category:1949 births]]
[[Category:People who renounced United States citizenship]]
[[Category:California lawyers]]
[[Category:Members of the Committee of 100]]
[[Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni]]
[[Category:Santa Clara University School of Law alumni]]
[[Category:American women lawyers]]
[[Category:American lawyers]]
[[Category:Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2017–2021]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Grand Bauhinia Medal]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Gold Bauhinia Star]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Silver Bauhinia Star]]

Laura Cha - Revision history

imported>Ser Amantio di Nicolao: Moving from Category:Members of Committee of 100 to Category:Members of the Committee of 100 using Cat-a-lot