THE stock exchange's drive to bring to the territory the best parts of the British corporate governance reform report is highly commendable.
It is apparent the exchange is going to impose on listed companies a condition of listing that all boards of directors have two independent members.
However, there are a number of considerations to be taken into account.
What exactly does independent mean in Hongkong? In a territory so small it will be quite difficult to sufficiently define who is and who is not independent.
If independence can be defined, then the next question to consider is whether there are enough of these independent people out there to sit on all these boards.
There is some doubt in the securities industry that even if independence could be defined and enough independent people recruited as non-executive directors, that they would serve any useful purpose.