Exclusive | Former Managing Director of HKEX, Ba Shusong, has recently gone missing

Ask AI · What financial regulatory dynamics might be involved behind the disappearance of Bu Song Ba?

Tencent News “Frontline”

Author | Xie Zhaoqing

Editor | Liu Peng

On March 24, multiple insiders said that Bu Song Ba, the former Managing Director and Chief China Economist of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), has recently gone missing. Some sources claim that Bu Song Ba has been taken away by relevant authorities for investigation, but it has not yet been possible to find out the details of the case(s) in question.

The position that Bu Song Ba is best known for to the outside world is his role as HKEX’s Chief China Economist. Public information shows that in April 2015, HKEX newly established a Mainland Affairs department and made several senior personnel appointments, including appointing Bu Song Ba as Chief China Economist. HKEX’s official announcement at the time mentioned that before taking up that role at HKEX, Bu Song Ba had served as the Deputy Director of the Financial Research Institute of the Development Research Center of the State Council, the Chief Economist of the China Banking Association, a member of the Hong Kong Economic Development Commission, and a senior visiting scholar at the Columbia Business School of the United States, among other roles.

Bu Song Ba’s last appearance as an HKEX executive was half a year ago. On October 22, 2025, when HKEX held the “China Opportunities Forum” in Shanghai, Bu Song Ba still attended the meeting in his capacity as Managing Director, Chief China Economist, and other titles.

However, in March 2026, in the management roster in HKEX’s 2025 annual report published by HKEX, Bu Song Ba’s name is no longer included.

HKEX has confirmed that Bu Song Ba left HKEX at the end of 2025, and that before leaving, he had served as a non-full-time consultant to HKEX.

Bu Song Ba serves as a doctoral supervisor at universities in China. Insiders say that since mid-March, Bu Song Ba has not spoken up in the group. Before that, he frequently shared all kinds of information in the doctoral student group under his supervision.

The official website of Peking University HSBC Business School shows that Bu Song Ba is currently a professor at Peking University HSBC Business School and the Executive Dean of the Peking University HSBC Institute of Finance.