WE live in interesting times. Regulators are grappling with new precedents and investors are changing their attitudes about what is reasonable and acceptable and what is not.
The Sincere emoluments controversy rolls on, a raft of accounting standard changes is due to affect profit and loss accounts by the end of the year, and banks in Hong Kong could lose their right to hide inner reserves very soon.
A case that has caught the eye of the listing division of the stock exchange recently is linked to a land deal by Far East Hotels and Entertainment, whose chairman is Deacon Chiu Te-ken.
In the deal, Derek Chiu agreed to sell some land in Shanghai for $546.25 million.
This was considerably more than was paid to acquire and clear the site, which was held under a joint venture agreement entered into on November 25, 1992.
In his own statement, Derek Chiu - who, by the way, is managing director of Far East Hotels - said the price paid by the listed company was five per cent below an independent valuation of $575 million.
