SFC Muddles Debate On Rule In Hong Kong

在香港相关部门人士就一项限制内幕人士交易的规定草案发生争论之际，香港最高证券监管机构的暧昧立场让事情变得复杂起来。这项被称为“限制买卖期”的规定在香港商业精英中间引发了激烈反对。他们表示，这项规定如果真的实施，将是全世界最严格的限制措施，可能导致公司董事和其他内幕人士一年中最长有7个月不能交易公司股票。这项规定原定于1月1日生效，后因反对意见被推迟到4月1日，目前相关部门人士正在商讨下一步行动。Getty Images一个交易员站在香港证券交易所大厅里反对这项规定的人上周赢得了香港证券及期货事务监察委员会(Securities and Futures Commission，简称：香港证监会)主席方正(Eddy Fong)的关键支持，而他有能力否决这项规定。在接受当地一家报纸采访时，他称限制买卖期是一项不讨人喜欢的规定，并说证监会应该重新考虑该规定。方正的这一表态在一些参与讨论规定草案的人士中间引发了混乱。他们表示，香港证监会一直是这项规定的坚定支持者。去年秋天，在征求公众意见阶段基本平静地结束后，证监会批准了这项规定。一位了解商谈情况的人士说，他们当时决不会想到会出现现在这样的激烈争议。一位相关人士提到了证监会企业融资部执行董事何贤通2007年给香港交易所运营方的一封信，列出了实行这项规定的几方面理由。据《华尔街日报》了解，何贤通在这封信中称证监会“支持”这项规定。他当时在信中说：目前的规定与国际最佳规范有脱节。证监会一位发言人拒绝就目前证监会在限制买卖期的规定上持何种立场发表评论，称它将听取市场的意见。方正和何贤通通过这位发言人表示拒绝置评。对正在设法保住亚洲中心地位的香港来说，这场争论无疑会给其公共关系方面带来坏名声。证监会官员一方面承受着修改甚至撤销这项规定的压力，同时，股东权益活动家立法会议员和一些商业企业则批评他们，取消加强监管的做法将与当前全球各地加强监管的大趋势背道而驰。安本资产管理公司(Aberdeen Asset Management)驻新加坡投资组合经理Hugh Young说，我的理解是香港正在向全球标准靠拢。他说，收回规定意味着香港的这一立场转向，这样的改变显然是不正确的。限制买卖期规定禁止公司董事和其他内幕人士在该公司业绩报告期结束至披露该报告期财务业绩之间的这段时间交易公司股票。目前的规定是，企业内幕人士在报告期结束后两个月内不得交易公司股票。香港公司可在年底结束4个月内公布年终业绩。据知情人士称，证监会目前正在与经营香港交易所的香港交易及结算所有限公司(Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd.)就下一步行动计划进行磋商。这些人士透露，双方正在讨论一个妥协方案，可能会延长限制交易期，但不会涵盖业绩公布前的整个阶段。尽管香港证监会可能会否决这项规定，但它首先必须与香港特区行政长官曾荫权(Donald Tsang)任命的财政司长磋商此事。香港交易所也能通过其支持的一个独立委员会对这项规定的最后结局施加影响，这个委员会成员包括商界领袖和股东代表。Laura Santini / Jonathan Cheng相关阅读沪港交易所签署合作协议 2009-01-22


As Hong Kong officials debate a proposed rule that would restrict trading by insiders, the uncertain stance of the city's top securities regulator has complicated the matter.Known as the blackout rule, the measure has provoked fierce opposition from Hong Kong's business elite, who say it would be among the toughest in the world if implemented and could keep directors and other insiders from trading shares for as long as seven months of the year. The rule was set to come into effect Jan. 1, but Hong Kong postponed it to April 1 in response to the protests, and local officials are negotiating their next step.Opponents of the rule won key support last week from Eddy Fong, chairman of Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission, which has the ability to scuttle the proposal. In an interview with a local newspaper, he called the blackout rule 'a pain in the neck' and said the commission should reconsider it.Mr. Fong's words sowed confusion among some people involved in the negotiations, who said the SFC had been a steady backer of the rule. The commission approved the rule this past autumn, after a public comment period expired with little fuss. 'There's no way they anticipated the controversy being what it is,' said a person familiar with the talks.One of the people involved pointed to a 2007 letter by Brian Ho, the SFC's executive director of corporate finance, to the operators of Hong Kong's stock exchange cataloging reasons for adopting the rule.In the letter, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Ho described the agency as 'championing' the rule. 'The current requirements are out of line with international best practice,' he wrote.An SFC spokesman declined to comment on where the commission stands on the blackout rule, saying it would listen to market opinion. Through the spokesman, Messrs. Fong and Ho declined to comment.The fight amounts to a public-relations black eye for Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China that is looking for ways to preserve its status as a center of Asian finance. While SFC officials face pressure to modify or kill the rule, they also face criticism from shareholder activists, local legislators and some businesses for retreating from greater regulation in a time when markets around the world are tightening theirs.'My reading is that Hong Kong was moving toward global standards,' said Hugh Young, a Singapore-based portfolio manager at Aberdeen Asset Management. A change that suggests Hong Kong has flip-flopped, he added, 'is obviously not right.'The blackout rule would prohibit directors and other insiders from trading in the time between when a company's reporting period ends and its disclosure of financial results. Currently, insiders are prohibited from trading for up to two months each year after the end of reporting periods. In Hong Kong, companies have four months to report year-end results.The commission is in discussions with Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd., which runs Hong Kong's stock exchange and is known as HKEx, over what to do next, according to the people familiar with the matter.The two are discussing a compromise that would lengthen the blackout period but not cover the entire period before earnings are disclosed, these people said.While the SFC can reject the rule, it must first consult with Hong Kong's financial secretary, who is appointed by the city's top administrator, Chief Executive Donald Tsang. HKEx, through an independent committee that operates under its auspices and is made up of a cross section of business leaders and shareholder representatives, can also affect the outcome of the rule.Laura Santini / Jonathan Cheng