I released a blog yesterday on questions surrounding weighted voting shares and saw a lot of discussion about the issue today. Unfortunately there was some confusion in some of the media reports about the purpose of the blog, particularly about the example citing HKEx's shareholding structure.
The Hong Kong SAR Government's right to appoint up to six non-executive directors is enshrined in the Securities and Futures Ordinance. This power stems from the law and was carefully considered by the Administration and lawmakers. The very purpose of this measure is to uphold the public interest and it is not related to whether the Government has a shareholding in HKEx. When I used HKEx as an example in my blog, what I wanted to demonstrate is when there are very good reasons, there are exemptions to the application of "one share, one vote". On further reflection, it may not have been the best example.
The primary purpose of my blog was to spur the market to debate important issues about the future of Hong Kong's financial market. This involves asking difficult questions and working together to find the best answers.
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