HONG KONG companies are miles ahead of the rest of the region when it comes to respecting the rights of minority shareholders and being open to investors, a survey by Gavin Anderson & Co shows.
The survey by the New York-based consultancy covered fund managers from 41 merchant banks and brokerages around the world.
It found Hong Kong's disclosure levels were among the best in Asia.
'Except for Hong Kong, there is still a huge gap between Asia and the West,' it quoted a fund manager at a European brokerage as saying.
'Less-developed markets do not seem to have a problem lying through their teeth to shareholders.' A fund manager from a US brokerage said: 'Hong Kong companies - but not Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong - by far and away rank at the top.
'They care very much about shareholders. They are very bottom-line driven.' The fund managers criticised companies in the mainland, India and South Korea for poor transparency.
Even companies in Singapore - especially banks - were unimpressive, said these fund managers from institutions such as Indosuez Asset Management, Morgan Grenfell, Nomura Investment Trust, J.P. Morgan Securities and Dai-Ichi Mutual Life.
