Wednesday 17th March 2010
Dear Reader,
We will close the opinion poll on short position disclosures at 6pm on Friday. Today we are launching a new opinion poll on class action rights for Hong Kong. Please vote! Your PIN is at the top of this e-mail. Total results will be sent to the Law Reform Commission.
NEW ARTICLE
Class actions
for HK
In a potentially huge step forward for access to justice, the Law Reform
Commission proposes a class action system for HK. The key issue is litigation
funding. Rather than a government-sponsored gatekeeper fund, we need a
free-market approach, with contingent legal fees and the abolition of archaic
laws against champerty and maintenance, to allow self-funded lawyers and third
party funders to bear the risks of loser-pays-costs. Take our opinion poll and
tell them what you think!
RECENT ARTICLES
Proposed law sells
HK short
If the Government consulted the public on a speed limit of 50km/h, then set it
at 4km/h, wouldn't you wonder why? That's what the SFC has done after a
consultation which from the outset was a solution in search of a non-existent
problem. We call on the SFC to withdraw or amend its proposed filing
requirements for 0.02% short positions and to focus with Government on filling
the gap in the existing law by requiring public disclosure of short positions,
including derivatives, at the same level as long positions, currently 5%. What
do you think? Take our poll! (7-Mar-10)
Larvotto - do you
know the boatyard?
We probe the history of the SHKP/Kerry/Paliburg Larvotto, a luxury
industrial-cum-residential project overlooking a typhoon shelter but behind
boatyards and sawmills, which are noisy enough for the Environmental Protection
Department to object to the Town Planning Board's approval, as minutes reveal.
"Non-openable windows" were cited as a mitigating measure. Yours for just
HK$25k/psf - can you see the bubble? (3-Mar-10)
HK's stamp duty
addiction
We look at the HK Government's opium-like addiction to stamp duty revenues,
which have more than quintupled in 7 years. The budget asks for another fix.
Stamp duty is sand in the wheels of the economy, distorting economic decisions
and reducing economic output. It should be abolished rather than increased
further. Higher stamp duty does not improve property affordability. HK needs a
root-and-branch review of taxation to refocus on fair taxation of GDP rather
than one-off measures and distortive policies. (2-Mar-10)
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