Wheels of justice turning slowly in Anthony Wu saga

You may be wondering where we are with the long running Anthony Wu Ting-yuk saga. He was found guilty of professional misconduct by the disciplinary committee of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants, according to an announcement by the body on December 24 last year.

Since then we have heard nothing. Wu, it will be recalled, was a former chairman of the Hospital Authority and of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, as well as sitting on the boards of Agricultural Bank of China, Guangdong Investments and China Taiping Insurance, as an independent non-executive director. He was a member of Henry Tang ying-yen's election committee, and had things not gone horribly wrong for Henry, Wu's career could have taken yet another twist.

Nevertheless, he remains a member of Hong Kong's political elite.

We gather that the next step in the HKICPA process is for the lawyers of the defendants to present submissions to the disciplinary committee, in much the same way that counsel address the court on the mitigating aspects of their client's situation after they have been found guilty but before sentencing by the judge. The other defendants are EY and Catherine Yen Ka-shun, a senior figure with EY.

The disciplinary committee then decides what sanctions to impose, and this has to be written up by the chairman of the disciplinary committee. We gather this is expected to be completed by the end of the second week of February, which just happens to be Valentine's Day.

The investment banking industry flinched following the death of a young investment analyst after working 72 hours straight at Bank of America Merrill Lynch last summer in London. Since then there has been much discussion within the industry over work-life balance.

The New York Times reports that Credit Suisse is encouraging young bankers to stay away from the office at weekends, while Goldman Sachs is thought to be mulling ways of making the lives of young analysts more agreeable.

But Randall Dillard, managing director and chief investment officer at Liongate Capital Management, has a rather different take on working in the finance industry. Speaking at the 2014 London School of Economics Alternative Investment conference, he told his young audience that they should expect to work hard and not to look for shortcuts.

He mentioned a Financial Times survey in which about 50 per cent of young bankers surveyed said they worked 60 hours a week. "That's not even in the game," he said. As for other career advice he was unenthusiastic about the private equity business. "Trust me, after eight or nine years you will want to commit suicide," adding that, "it is the roughest business to do well in - I couldn't even go to the movies without feeling guilty."

Livening up the Basic Law

Those of you at a loose end this weekend may be interested to know that a Basic Law roving exhibition organised by the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau will be held this Saturday and Sunday in Tsuen Wan. A government statement says that participants will be able to learn about the Basic Law in "a lively way". There's free entry and souvenirs for all who attend. Sounds too good to miss.

Make love, not sushi

As Valentine's Day looms we are being inundated by increasingly silly things to do on "the special day". We've previously written about butlur.com whose claim to fame is to make it easy for men to buy "sincere and thoughtful" gifts for women.

We've received a promotion from Bella Vita, which for only HK$2,288 plus 10 per cent per couple is offering an eight-course romantic candlelight set dinner, "for those who wish to pamper their loved one and make Valentine's Day truly memorable". After eight courses we wouldn't be feeling too romantic or in the mood for too much pampering.

From Masu we have an invitation "to spend Valentine's Day making sushi with your sweetheart". We are encouraged to "learn the art of sushi making with Masu's master chef Michael Chan. Mix, roll and sculpt your way to delicious rolls on the special day". If we want to be making anything on Valentine's Day, it will not be sushi.

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