[KnowItAll]

Asia Sentinel - Hong Kong Loses an Independent Watchdog

Interesting article. It is often things like this that make me wonder - is Hong Kong really a free economy? How much more is the govt involved in, that we're not aware of?

The May 15 resignation of David Webb, Hong Kong’s best-known gadfly and an independent and outspoken member of the board of Hong Kong’s financial trading monopoly, HK Exchanges and Clearing, raises serious questions about its standards of governance and underlines the government’s increasing control of what ought to be an independent body.

Webb, a former investment banker and now an independent investor, was an elected non-executive director of the exchange and the only foreigner on the board of a company whose business is heavily dependent on foreign institutions. He had been a member for five years.

Also covered in the Forbes.

Forbes.com - Magazine Article

[whong]

i think this is a big loss to retail investors. after watching last summer credit crunch and this year bear stearn bailout, I doubt free economy would stay free -- no exception to Hong Kong.

seems like the governments and central banks are doing everything to stabilize the markets and the economy.

[climber07]

Originally Posted by KnowItAll

[url=http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1203&Ite mid=32] is Hong Kong really a free economy? How much more is the govt involved in, that we're not aware of?

David Webb's departure is really a sad development and a troubling sign of things to come.