Aug 24, 2020
CSj gets some best-practice advice from investors, regulators and governance professionals in Hong Kong on how to improve diversity on boards and deliver real change. Earlier this month, a Qualcomm shareholder sued the company’s directors for failing to bring an...
Aug 24, 2020
Neil Waters and Karoline Vinsrygg, Egon Zehnder, highlight the results of a recent poll of chairs and board members to find out how boards are responding to the COVID-19 crisis. Like everyone and everything else, boards have had to adapt to a changed world in so many...
Aug 24, 2020
CSj looks at the latest proposals for implementing a paperless securities market in Hong Kong. On 28 January 2019, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (HKEX) and the Federation of Share Registrars Ltd (FSR) issued a joint...
Aug 24, 2020
Angela SY Yim, Partner, and Phoebe MC Fok, Senior Associate, Mayer Brown, evaluate recent amendments to health and safety regulations in Hong Kong, and suggest a number of practical measures to prioritise workplace safety. Amendments to the Hong Kong Exchanges and...
Aug 24, 2020
Henry Kwong, Tax Partner, Cheng & Cheng Taxation Services Ltd, analyses the latest Inland Revenue Department guidance on offshore fund exemptions for Hong Kong–domiciled funds. On 30 June 2020, the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) published its long-awaited...
Aug 24, 2020
As the first cryptocurrency fund licensed by the Securities and Futures Commission is launched in Hong Kong, Richard Keady, Partner, and Henry Li, Associate, Dentons Hong Kong, give an overview of the regulatory regime applicable to such funds. Technology is changing...
Aug 24, 2020
What is your role as a governance professional? ‘As a company secretarial officer working for a listed company, my role is to ensure regulatory compliance within the listed company and its subsidiaries. I also assist in the holding of board meetings and annual general...
Aug 24, 2020
Board diversity Click the cover image below to view or download a pdf of the full...
Aug 13, 2019
Globally we are seeing the introduction of new regimes to make it easier for regulators to hold individual executives and board members responsible for corporate misconduct. CSj looks at the implications of this trend for directors, managers and governance...
Aug 13, 2019
Dr Jag Kundi, a Hong Kong–based scholar-practitioner active in the FinTech space, launches a series of articles in CSj exploring the interaction of emerging technologies of the digital era on governance and ethics. I n the 21st century, data is an essential resource...
Aug 13, 2019
Emily Foges, CEO, Luminance, and Emma Walton, Knowledge and Innovation Manager, Slaughter and May, suggest ways that artificial intelligence can be harnessed by corporate governance professionals in the area of regulatory compliance. Artificial intelligence (AI) has...
Aug 13, 2019
Joe Liu, Deputy Secretary-General, Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, reviews the benefits of international arbitration in cross-border commercial disputes and highlights the advantages of Hong Kong as a favoured seat of arbitration. Benefits of international...
Aug 13, 2019
Anna Chan and Martin Tse, Oldham, Li & Nie Lawyers, overview the various corporate governance tools available to facilitate the smooth running of family businesses and alleviate potential family disputes. It is sad – but unfortunately not uncommon – when family...
Aug 13, 2019
New listing rule amendments to become effective on 1 October 2019 seek to enhance Hong Kong’s reverse takeover rules and continuing listing criteria. Hong Kong’s listing rules require listed issuers to maintain sufficient operations and to have assets of sufficient...
Aug 13, 2019
Chris Lawley, Vice-President APAC, Diligent, suggests four steps for boards to modernise their governance. Diligent recently launched a new category called ‘modern governance’ to bring boards of directors and leadership teams up to speed in today’s digital world....
Aug 13, 2019
Accountability – A cure for capitalism? Click the cover image below to view or download a pdf of the full...
Aug 14, 2018
The message from investors on environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure is clear and unambiguous, Sally J Curley, CEO, Curley Global IR, writes. Treating this as a public relations exercise and producing a ‘fluff’ CSR report raises red flags for investors....
Aug 14, 2018
The Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Reporting Standards replaced the GRI’s G4 reporting framework on 1 July 2018. Vicky Lee and Carissa Pobre, Sustainability Advisers, The Purpose Business, give some tips on how to raise your game when it comes to ESG...
Aug 14, 2018
In a two-part series, Dr Glenn Frommer and Theodora Thunder, Principals, The Sustainability Partnership, look at guidance from the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures on how companies can address one of the toughest challenges of ESG disclosure –...
Aug 14, 2018
CSj previews the Institute’s upcoming biennial Corporate Governance Conference, to be held on Friday 14 September 2018 at the JW Marriott Hotel in Hong Kong. Next month, the 11th in the Institute’s series of biennial corporate governance conferences (CGCs) gets...
Aug 14, 2018
Philip Monaghan, Partner; Scott Schaeffer, Counsel; and Charles Paillard, Associate; O’Melveny, discuss the implications of a recent decision by the Hong Kong Competition Tribunal which clarifies respondent discovery rights in enforcement actions brought by the...
Aug 14, 2018
With key parts of the Competition Ordinance uninterpreted in Hong Kong, Peter Westerlind Wigstrom, Registered Foreign Lawyer, Deacons, looks at overseas competition cases to guide businesses and individuals on the likely extent of their liability under the law. The...
Aug 14, 2018
What makes a good ESG report? Click the cover image below to view or download a pdf of the full...
Aug 14, 2017
The Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre at the Independent Commission Against Corruption regards the company secretary as a trusted partner to achieve better ethical and governance standards in Hong Kong companies. As part of the senior management team, the...
Aug 14, 2017
In an interview with CSj, Chua Hoi Wai, Chief Executive, The Hong Kong Council of Social Service, discusses the challenges facing NGO boards in Hong Kong. Many thanks for giving us this interview – could we start by discussing what constitutes good governance for...
Aug 14, 2017
Since the Hong Kong Competition Ordinance took full effect on 14 December 2015, the Competition Commission has gradually shifted to a harder line enforcement style. Alastair Mordaunt, Partner; and Joy Wong, Associate; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, look at the...
Aug 14, 2017
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) responds to questions raised during the Institute’s latest Annual Corporate and Regulatory Update seminar, held in June this year. How does the SFC identify cases of misleading information disclosure? What standards...
Aug 14, 2017
Eric Sohn, Director of Business Product, Dow Jones Risk & Compliance, New York, warns against trying to scrape by with a minimal sanctions compliance programme. When faced with sanctions compliance requirements, many firms focus on ‘requirements’ so as to...
Aug 14, 2017
Dr Raymond Chan, Associate Professor; and Dr Angus Young, Senior Lecturer; Hong Kong Baptist University, take a look at Hong Kong’s proposed beneficial ownership regime and its implications for governance professionals. Anti-money laundering (AML) measures are...
Aug 14, 2017
Ethical Governance – Keeping companies on track Click the cover image below to view or download a pdf of the full...
Aug 12, 2016
Formal board evaluation is still at a nascent stage in Hong Kong. CSj looks at the potential benefits of the process and explores why companies in Hong Kong have been reluctant to embrace what is fast becoming a standard part of good corporate governance practice....
Aug 12, 2016
George Anderson, Katherine Moos and Alice Au, Spencer Stuart, look at six key questions all boards need to consider regarding board performance and the suitability of individual directors. Investor focus on board performance has reached new levels of intensity. The...
Aug 12, 2016
In the global investment community, there have been discussions about the importance of integrating environmental, social, and governance factors into corporate strategy and disclosures, and a movement to encourage integrated reporting. Robert Eccles, Chairman of...
Aug 12, 2016
CSj previews the Institute’s upcoming biennial corporate governance conference, to be held on the 23–24 September 2016 at the JW Marriott Hotel in Hong Kong. Next month, the 10th in the Institute’s series of biennial corporate governance conferences (CGCs)...
Aug 12, 2016
A new guidance note issued by the HKICS gives a practical introduction to the governance issues relating to non-governmental organisations (NGOs). A director on your board wants to become involved in an NGO. He comes to you, as the company secretary, and wants to know...
Aug 11, 2016
Erin Lyon, Executive Director, CSR Asia, takes a look at the Singapore stock exchange’s new sustainability reporting requirements. The long wait for the Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX) sustainability reporting requirements is finally over. On the 20 June 2016, the...
Aug 11, 2016
Xie Jilong, Board Secretary, CRRC Corporation, highlights the economic and social opportunities resulting from the trend towards global connectivity. From the age of discovery to the proof of the earth being round, from the industrial revolution to the massive...
Aug 11, 2016
Richard Bell, Ik Wei Chong and Samuel Sharp, Clyde & Co, discuss the implications of a recent case in the Intermediate People’s Court of Shanghai which recognised and enforced a foreign arbitration award. A recent case in the Intermediate People’s...
Aug 11, 2016
Board evaluation – Is Hong Kong missing out? Click the cover image below to view or download a pdf of the full...
Aug 6, 2015
Until Hong Kong establishes effective whistleblower protections it will continue to miss out on one of the most effective channels for the detection of fraud. CSj gets some expert advice on this and other aspects of establishing an effective internal whistleblowing...
Aug 6, 2015
Investor relations is a relatively young profession in Hong Kong, but this month’s In Profile candidate is a Chartered Secretary who has played a major role in building the profession over the last decade. This month, CSj talks to Dr Eva Chan FCIS FCS(PE),...
Aug 6, 2015
A straw man proposal is intended to generate discussion of an intended course of action and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing’s ‘straw man’ weighted voting rights proposals have certainly succeeded in doing that. The question remains however – what comes...
Aug 6, 2015
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd is likely to upgrade key aspects of environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure to ‘comply or explain’ status within the next 12 months. Ivan Tong, Richard Chou and Brian Ho at Ernst & Young, give some advice...
Aug 6, 2015
In the wake of China’s stock market losses, Andrew Sheng and Xiao Geng at the Asia Global Institute of the University of Hong Kong, argue that the lessons of this current ‘stress test’ should be used to drive the next phase of economic reform in China. The...
Aug 6, 2015
Internal whistleblowing – How to get it right. Click the cover image below to view or download a pdf of the full...
Aug 6, 2014
Company secretaries in Hong Kong assess the new demands on, and demand for, compliance professionals in the emerging regulatory environment. Compliance work is at the core of what company secretaries do. The Institute’s latest research report on the roles and...
Aug 6, 2014
In 2013 Anna Wu Hung-yuk was appointed Chairperson of the Competition Commission which will oversee the implementation of the Competition Ordinance next year. In an interview with CSj, she talks about her aspirations for the Competition Commission and looks back over...
Aug 6, 2014
CSj previews the Institute’s ninth biennial corporate governance conference which gets underway next month in Hong Kong. The Institute’s biennial corporate government conferences (CGCs), first launched in 1998, have established a reputation for their very...
Aug 6, 2014
Andrew Kinnison, a solicitor and partner with Howse Williams Bowers, argues that it is time to enact legislation in Hong Kong to support a corporate rescue culture. Corporate rescue is a means by which the directors of an ailing company can seek to nurse it out of its...
Aug 6, 2014
In two recent cases, Hong Kong’s Court of First Instance (CFI) calls for proactive measures against shadow companies. In two recent Hong Kong cases, Power Dekor (Hong Kong) Ltd v Power Dekor Group Co Ltd (1 HKLRD 845/2014), and Exxon Mobil Corporation v USA...
Aug 6, 2014
Q: We have many board committees and subsidiary companies with varying degrees of overlap amongst directors; how can we address this segregation of information and duties with a board portal? A: Access to the right content at the right time is key to effective board...
Aug 6, 2014
Compliance update – Your guide to the new regulatory environment. Click the cover image below to view or download a pdf of the full...
Aug 5, 2013
Corporate reports that give stakeholders access to year-old financial statements and little else are clearly not sufficient. The notion, however, that companies currently serving up this stale fare can instantaneously upgrade to providing stakeholders with...
Aug 5, 2013
April Chan, Company Secretary, CLP Holdings Ltd, shares some of the experience her company has gained since switching to integrated reporting in 2011. CLP’s financial statement of 1902 consisted of one page of exclusively financial data. By 2012, CLP’s...
Aug 5, 2013
The latest generation of sustainability reporting guidelines from the Global Reporting Initiative were launched in May this year. Erin Lyon, Executive Director, CSR Asia, takes a look at the major changes from the G3.1 guidelines they replace, and highlights what G4...
Aug 5, 2013
China’s economic success has led to some rather unusual disruptions to the usual battlelines over free-market versus state-sponsored capitalism. Western countries that have traditionally been staunch defenders of the free-market variety have been shifting...
Aug 5, 2013
Does your company regard compliance as an added value to your business or as a business cost? Bill Dee, Director, Compliance and Complaints Advisory Services Pty Ltd, Australia, and Angus Young, Assistant Professor, Hang Seng Management College, Hong Kong, give some...
Aug 5, 2013
Credit crunches and sudden economic downturns can quickly undermine businesses in difficult times, but some businesses may be able to survive short-term financial difficulties if an effective corporate rescue process is available. This article will take you through...
Aug 5, 2013
Integrated reporting – Is Hong Kong ready? Click the cover image below to view or download a pdf of the full...
Aug 7, 2012
While the annual general meeting (AGM) season in Hong Kong coincides with springtime, did we see any evidence this year of the ‘shareholder spring’ – the backlash by shareholders on executive compensation and other corporate governance matters that has had a...
Aug 7, 2012
Company secretaries have a lot going for them in India. The local institute of company secretaries is a statutory body and has some 25,000 members and over 230,000 students. Moreover, by law all companies with a paid up capital over approximately US$500,000 must...
Aug 7, 2012
Cloud computing provides easy, scalable access to IT resources and services – it’s also much cheaper than building your own IT infrastructure – but before you sign up to ‘join the cloud’, Zoe Chan, Programme Director, HKU SPACE, suggests some of the issues...
Aug 7, 2012
There are many ways to reduce corporate expenditure without having to cut staff, argues Richard Wong, Principal, Ascent Partners As staff are generally a major corporate cost category, whenever there is a need to trim costs, the opportunity to find victims presents...
Aug 7, 2012
The legal representative occupies a powerful and important position in Chinese companies, but it is a position not always fully understood by foreign investors. Maarten Roos, Managing Director, R&P China Lawyers, looks at the risks for companies where these...
Aug 7, 2012
Q: We are considering migrating from a paper board pack to an online board portal, what practical issues do we need to consider in selecting an online service? A: There are many considerations in addition to the more obvious security and support issues that you are...
Aug 7, 2012
Shareholder spring? – 2012 AGM season review. Click the cover image below to view or download a pdf of the full...
