Tuesday 15th February 2011

Dear Reader,

Kung Hei Fat Choy!

NEW ARTICLE
Prudential's de facto delisting
We look at the evaporating puddle of liquidity in the dual-primary HK listing of Prudential Plc, now down to 0.08% of the company. 95% of it has drained away since last year's listing. Meanwhile, the much-trumpeted secondary listing of Brazilian iron ore giant Vale has almost dried up too, now down to 0.02% of the company. (15-Feb-2011)

Elsewhere on the web
ASX merger may not make good sense, but it now looks a good bet
Sydney Morning Herald, 12-Feb-2011

Ticket tap turned off in Aqua rush
HK Standard, 7-Feb-2011
Ocean Park reaches capacity of 36,000 (equal to 0.5% of the population of HK) and closes the gates. Comment: clearly the tickets are underpriced on public holidays. As a Government-subsidised entity (soft loans and land), Ocean Park has a duty to the public to maximise its revenue and minimise its subsidy. A higher price should be set on public holidays to reduce the demand.

US SEC charges 8 people and 3 companies in US$33m international microcap fraud
US SEC, 1-Feb-2011
Those charged in the civil fraud case include Bernard Chan Kwong-chung, who runs an SFC-licensed financial adviser called Nuada Ltd, which has been criticised numerous times on Webb-site, and Daniel Ng Chi-shing, a member of the Hong Kong Government's Digital 21 Strategy Advisory Committee. Ng has agreed to be barred from acting as an officer or director of a public reporting company, and his company agreed to pay US$200k in disgorgement. Chan has not settled.

China Forestry (0930) auditor identifies "possible irregularities"...
Company announcement, 31-Jan-2011
...in its first full year after listing! We wonder why Wong Tak Jun, INED, Chair Professor of Accountancy and Dean of Business Administration at CUHK, is not serving on the independent board committee set up to conduct an inquiry. His skills might come in useful.

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