The survey was conducted before British regulators reprimanded Jardine Fleming Investment Management but underlines some of the compliance fears raised by the scandal.

Since the inception of the Insider Dealing Tribunal in 1991, only five cases have been heard.

The survey was the first time the Hong Kong exchange has polled major secondary market user groups in this way.

It sent questionnaires to all 485 trading members of the exchange, 45 members of the Hong Kong Investment Funds Association and 67 non-exchange participants in the central clearing and settlement system.

The exchange said the response rate of 64 per cent gave weight to the findings.

The survey revealed only 36 per cent of those polled believed the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) was an effective regulator.

Co-operation between the SFC and the stock exchange over regulatory responsibilities in the secondary market was also criticised, with slightly more than a quarter of respondents believing it was 'proper'.

Another apparent problem area highlighted was the regulation of issuers and brokers. About 40 per cent of those questioned thought issuers were under-regulated.

Among fund managers alone that figure rose to 70 per cent.

When it came to regulation of brokers a more complicated picture emerged with differing views from each sector polled, though generally the respondents were happier with regulation in this area.

The exchange itself scored better with the perception by 53 per cent of users that its regulation of the secondary market was effective.

The stock exchange also scored well in other areas. Most thought the market was perceived as fair and orderly and 67 per cent thought it was 'professionally' managed.

Transaction costs were generally regarded as reasonable, especially among fund managers, although 20 per cent of members thought they could be lower.

The survey found that a quarter of respondents were keen to see more timely and complete disclosure of issuer information.