The Asian turmoil has given the Hong Kong market the impetus to strengthen itself by improving standards of corporate governance, a conference has been told.
Although many companies had been badly hit, the crisis offered an opportunity for the market to move ahead, said Hong Kong Society of Accountants (HKSA) corporate governance committee chairman Edward Chow Kwong-fai.
'It is exactly the right time,' Mr Chow told a forum on corporate governance at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology yesterday.
He warned the financial turmoil could return if companies failed to improve corporate governance.
'History repeats itself,' Mr Chow said.
Hong Kong Society of Financial Analysts secretary James Soutar complained the requirements for financial disclosure by Hong Kong companies were below international standards.