OECD Asian Roundtable on Corporate Governance, 13-14 May 2008

Hong Kong, China - 13-14 May 2008

During the past decade, Asian economies have taken major steps to raise corporate governance standards to re-establish investors’confidence in Asian markets and re-open Asian companies’ access to global capital markets. This new dynamic presents Asian economies with a terrific opportunity to address any underlying challenges in their corporate governance frameworks. Particularly where there is a perceived gap between formal rules and actual practices.

Participants focused on effective monitoring of related-party transactions, an issue which was first discussed at the Singapore meeting in 2007 and is still seen as one of the most serious breaches of good corporate governance around the world, including in Asia.The meeting introduced new work by the OECD on regulatory impact assessments. Information about recent initiatives by countries and organisations was shared, notably an overview of recent corporate governance developments in Hong Kong, China.

The roundtable was co-hosted by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, the Hong Kong Institute of Chartered Secretaries (HKICS) and the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA), with financial support from the Japanese government

Documentation

Conclusions and Key Findings Note
Agenda
CNBC interview with Marcello Bianchi

Speakers' presentations

Session 1: Regulatory Discipline-Fostering Enforcement Mechanisms: The Regulatory Challenge

Mrs. April Chan, Vice-President, The Hong Kong Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Company Secretary of CLP Holdings Limited Vice-President, The Hong Kong Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Company Secretary of CLP Holdings Limited
Dr. Stephen Cheung, Chair Professor of Finance, Department of Economics and Finance, City University of Hong Kong Chair Professor of Finance, Department of Economics and Finance, City University of Hong Kong
Mr. Richard Williams, Head of Listing, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited Head of Listing, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited

Session 4: Related party transactions : public disclosure in Asia

Mr. Xavier Tessier, Head of International Affairs, Autorité des Marchés Financiers, France
Case study by Dr. Stephen Cheung, Chair, Professor of Finance, Department of Economics and Finance, City University of Hong Kong Chair, Professor of Finance, Department of Economics and Finance, City University of Hong Kong

Session 5 : Related party transactions : approval by boards and shareholders in Asia

Key note address by Mr. Atsushi Saito, President & CEO, Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc., Japan President & CEO, Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc., Japan
Brief Introduction by Prof. Yuko Kawamoto, Graduate School of Finance, Accounting & Law, Waseda University, Japan
Case study presentation by Mr. Jisoo Lee, Analyst, Center for Good Corporate Governance, Korea Analyst, Center for Good Corporate Governance, Korea

Session 6: Related party transactions: fiduciary duties of boards and shareholder’s redress in Asia

Brief Introduction by Mr. Joseph McCahery, Professor of Corporate Governance, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

Session 7: Implementing the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance: New OECD work

Speaker: Mr. Grant Kirkpatrick, Senior Economist, Corporate Affairs Division, OECD Senior Economist, Corporate Affairs Division, OECD

Corporate governance principles

OECD Asian Roundtable on Corporate Governance, 13-14 May 2008