Censored sections set for release
Missing chapters of the Tomson Report on the 1990 takeover of the World Trade Centre Group are expected to be released in full, bringing to an end a five-year controversy over the censored report.
A final decision on the exact content of the chapters to be made public has been taken by Financial Secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen following extensive legal consultation. An announcement is expected shortly.
However, it is understood that the absent chapters - cut out of John Lees' 700-page epic - will be released in their entirety amid pressure for government transparency.
The only omissions expected are suggestions by the author on areas to further examine in terms of proposed prosecutions of individuals.
The report was commissioned in 1992 by the then financial secretary amid concerns about irregularities in Tomson Pacific's takeover of the World Trade Centre Group.
A decision by the Government to release an abridged version of the report in 1994 attracted fierce criticism.
It was feared the most pivotal and incriminating sections of the investigation had been censored to protect certain individuals.
The report led to the prosecution of former high-flying stockbroker Arthur Lai Cheuk-kwan and former Tomson Pacific executive chairman David Tong Cun-lin, along with three others.
However a six-month trial - which cost taxpayers $52 million - failed to secure a conviction last October.
A paragraph-by-paragraph examination of the report has been carried out by legal advisers amid mounting pressure on the Financial Services Bureau to release the absent chapters.
An entire chapter on the World Trade Centre Group's $51 million acquisition of three flats in New York's Mandarin Plaza was omitted from the published report.
Another chapter censored from the publication remains untitled. The heading to chapter 10 reads simply: 'publication of part deferred'.
Details on the acquisition of the World Trade Centre Building were also deleted from the report, along with a chapter on the acquisition of 145 million shares in Tian Teck Land.
An investigation of ancillary transactions and matters was also cut out, as were conclusions made in the course of the probe and a section on share price support operations. Annexes were also deleted.
Paragraphs were also deleted from the section describing casino magnate Stanley Ho Hung-sun's role in Tomson Pacific - he was a director of the company. Mr Ho was also involved in six transactions Mr Lees was asked to probe.
TOMSON REPORT
