Hang Seng Bank's Margaret Leung against quota for female directors

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing's newly appointed female director is opposed to the idea that the city should follow the example set by some European countries to introduce a quota system as a fast track to put more women on company boards.

In 2005, Norway became the first European country to mandate that 40 per cent of all company board members be women. Some European countries, such as France and Italy, are planning to introduce similar quotas.

"Hong Kong is not yet ready for a quota system. If we introduce such a system, it would only force the companies to bring in any female relatives or friends on board to meet the quota while these female directors may not really understand the business," said Margaret Leung Ko May-yee, a former chief executive of Hang Seng Bank who was appointed last month by the government as a director of the HKEx.

Of the 13 directors of the exchange operator, including chief executive Charles Li Xiaojia, six are government-appointed and the rest are elected by shareholders.

"It would be better to encourage companies to voluntarily appoint more women to their boards instead of making it mandatory. Only if they voluntarily appoint a woman they believe to be capable of doing the job would they then listen to her advice."