2010年3月30日 星期二

角力急劇升級/ Hong Kong directors face crackdown


歌(Google Inc.)搜索網站週二在中國突然停止工作﹐公司最初將此歸因於技術故障﹐但後來改變了說法﹐認定這是中國政府在使用“防火長城”阻止用戶搜索。

谷歌在聲明中稱﹐公司中國搜索流量已經恢復正常﹔看上去﹐這個問題暫時得到瞭解決。

不過﹐這個事件說明中國和谷歌之間的關係仍非常混亂﹐同時也可能意味著雙方的角力急劇升級。谷歌在一週前決定不再遵守中國審查規定。

週二﹐中國大陸的用戶在使用谷歌香港網站Google.com.hk時會收到出錯信息﹐谷歌當天一直在努力查明這一大面積服務中斷的原因。上週﹐谷歌表示將不再遵守中國的互聯網審查制度﹐並開始將來自大陸的互聯網用戶導向其香港網站。

Jessica E. Vascellaro / Loretta Chao
Hong Kong directors face crackdown By Robert Cookson in Hong Kong 2010-03-30

Hong Kong's government has unveiled plans to clamp down on the directors of public companies who fail to disclose price sensitive information in a “timely” manner.

The move is the latest attempt to eliminate opportunities for insider dealing in Hong Kong's equity market by introducing laws similar to those found in rival global financial centres such as London.

“The lack of regulatory teeth in the listing rules administered by the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong has been an issue of concern to the market as well as the general public,” the Financial Services and Treasury Bureau said in its consultative document.

Under the current system, the exchange can only punish a company and its directors by resorting to modest disciplinary actions such as a private reprimand or public censure.

By contrast, the new proposals would allow the Market Misconduct Tribunal (MMT), a civil tribunal, to impose fines of up to HK$8m ($1m) on companies or directors who fail to disclose insider information to the market as soon as practicable.

Price-sensitive information is defined as information that is prohibited from being used in insider dealing.

Directors could also be disqualified from being involved in the management of a listed company for up to five years, among other sanctions.

“This is a very big step forward because it will be a breach of the law not to disclose, not just breaching an agreement with the exchange,” said Mark Dickens, head of listing at Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing (HKEx), which operates the stock exchange. “This is now about breaking the law.”

However the plans have been dismissed as “insignificant” and “very disappointing” by David Webb, Hong Kong's top shareholder activist and a former independent non-executive director of HKEx.

“This is a further watering down of proposals first published in 2003,” he said.

The original 2003 proposals were to give legal backing to several listing rules, rather than just one of them, and to include criminal penalties as well as civil ones.


香港政府公布了拟严惩那些未能“及时”披露股价敏感信息的上市公司董事的计划。

此举是出台与伦敦等全球金融中心类似法律、消除香港股市内幕交易机会的最新努力。

香港财经事务及库务局(Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau)在咨询文件中表示:“市场及公众人士一直关注,由联交所管理的《上市规则》,监管力度不足。”

在当前的制度下,联交所只能对上市公司及其董事采取温和的纪律措施,例如私下批评或公开谴责。

与此形成对照的是,新建议将允许民事审判庭——香港市场失当行为审裁处(MMT)对未能尽快向市场披露内幕消息的上市公司或董事处以最高800万港元(合100万美元)的罚款。

股价敏感信息定义为禁止用于内幕交易的信息。

除其它制裁措施外,董事还可能受到取消上市公司管理资格至多5年的处罚。

港交所(HKEx)上市科主管狄勤思(Mr Mark Dickens)表示:“这是向前迈进的非常重大的一步,因为不披露相关信息将违反法律,而不只是违反与港交所的协议。现在这是违法的问题。”

然而,香港知名股东维权人士、港交所前独立非执行董事戴维•韦布(David Webb)称,这些计划“无关紧要”,而且“非常令人失望”。

他表示:“这是对2003年最初公布的建议的进一步淡化。”

最初在2003年提出的建议包括,向多个、而不只是其中一套上市规则提供法律支持,并包括刑事和民事处罚。

译者/君悦

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