Wednesday 15th May 2019
Dear Reader,
Happy Enigma Day. It's the 2nd anniversary of our report on the Enigma Network, so nice of Bloomberg to cover it with a story.
NEW ARTICLE
Andrew Fan, Universal INED
A quick look at tomorrow's new
listing sees an INED taking his 10th board seat. In our view, he should have
found time to check his prospectus biography more carefully. (15-May-2019)
RECENTLY IN WEBB-SITE REPORTS
Stop
the Scripless U-turn
Investors were in the dark for 4 years
about plans to tear up a model that was first recommended by the Hay Davison
Report in 1988, has worked in Australia since 1999, and was legislated in HK in
2015 but never actioned. Our extensive discussions with SFC and HKEX reveal no
legitimate issues. We urge legislators to reject this U-turn and the SFC to
proceed with the legislated model. The stench of vested interests is
overpowering. (30-Apr-2019)
Enigma
fallout: the social media fund
We piece together
disclosures by 4 listed companies in the Enigma Network to reveal a pseudo-fund
which held a single 55% stake in a social media company, posing new questions
for the regulators. (28-Apr-2019)
Putting
the dot back in HK
A deep dive into HK's "not-for-profit"
internet domain registry reveals appalling governance, over-charging, continuing
conflicts of interests and a severe case of corporate obesity. In late 2015,
having hoarded enough cash to run the registry for 9 years, the
Government-controlled board reversed a fee cut, losing a quarter of registered
domains over the next 3 years, while seeking ways to squander the surpluses on
mission-creep rather than return the cash to users. There is a better
way. (25-Apr-2019)
IN OTHER NEWS
The spectacular implosion of Dr. Cho's 'nefarious network' | The
Enigma Network
Bloomberg, 15-May-2019
Today is the 2nd anniversary of Webb-site's publication of the Enigma
Network. So far, nobody has been charged with any offence, and no SFC action has
been taken to bring in the liquidators to wind up any of the listed companies
involved.
Censure of GT (0263) and certain directors | The
Joint Global implosion
SEHK, 14-May-2019
This relates to our investigative report "The Joint Global implosion" of
30-Sep-2016. The announcement states that the Listing Department began
investigating in mid-Oct-2016. In our view, the SFC and possibly the Commercial
Crime Bureau should be investigating the circumstances of the collapse of Joint
Global, which wiped over HK$2bn off the balance sheets of at least 11 listed
companies in what we call the "Chung Nam Network".
Concentration warning in Bisu Tech (1372)
SFC,
10-May-2019
The top 20 holders have 90.6%.
HKICPA
bans Richard Yin Yingneng for 2 years
HKICPA,
2-May-2019
Amazingly, it was only 18 months after the SFC's
announcement of the Court's findings that the HKICPA "became aware" of the
wrong-doing by its members, including Kenny Lee Yiu Sun. There appears to be
some sort of communications failure between the 2 regulators.
And much more besides...
Remember that, apart from our occasional
artisanal articles, you can follow Webb-site Reports via RSS,
Twitter or
Facebook.
Pass it on!
This free newsletter goes to over 27,000 subscribers. If you enjoy the site, then please
invite a friend to find out
what they are missing and subscribe!
Copyright notice
This e-mail and small extracts of any article on the site may be freely quoted
in any other publication but ONLY if attribution is given to
Webb-site.com.
David M. Webb
Editor, Webb-site.com