Friday 15th April 2022
Dear Readers,
I don't have the time or energy to do a lot of newsletters nowadays - it's been 11 months since the last one, so I hope this mailing system is still functional, as am I. I think it is worth distributing my "Manifesto for Hong Kong" to a wider audience than the social media junkies. Download it while you can, and absorb with plenty of coffee. When you have a new CE whose policy mind outside of Security is largely a blank canvas, there is room to paint. Hong Kong can still be a better place if it reopens and veers away from central planning and back to the free-market foundations upon which it was built.
Also, I do have one last major project underway - a deep dive into the HKSAR Government accounts, thousands of line items in time series over 19 years. This will be a new tool for journalists, researchers and maybe even policy-makers and legislators who approve their spending plans, if they care. So brace yourselves for that.
NEW ARTICLE
A
manifesto for Hong Kong
If you're going to be Chief Executive and
you don't have a manifesto or any policy expertise beyond Security, Webb-site is
here to help! (13-Apr-2022)
RECENTLY (well, in the last 11 months) ON WEBB-SITE
Employment Support Scheme: the final outcome
After information
requests by Webb-site, we reveal that HK's largest ever corporate handout went
over-budget by about HK$10bn to a final tally of HK$90.5bn (US$11.6bn) plus
costs. We produce a final list of approved claims. (13-Feb-2022)
Yorkey
(2788): a successful outcome
Webb-site recommends shareholders to
vote in favour of the increased offer, as founder David Webb has undertaken to
do. Here's the background to our decision. (20-Jan-2022)
Joining
the dots on the ICAC case against Chim Pui Chung and others
The
ex-legislator is once again facing criminal charges, this time with his son and
others. We examine the past connections between the defendants and the
connection between an alleged co-conspirator and one of the subscribers of
convertible notes, who has not been charged. (21-Nov-2021)
IN OTHER NEWS
SFC criticises Gao
Yunhong and Feng Xuelian for breaches of the Takeovers Code | Executive
Statement
SFC, 7-Apr-2022
They
caused Steering Holdings Ltd (now FDB Holdings Ltd, 1826) to sell shares of CMBC
Capital (1141) in "frustrating action" during an offer period triggered when Mr
Ng Kin Siu acquired control of FDB from CMBC Capital Finance Ltd, which had
enforced security over a loan to Mr Gao's holding company, Gentle Soar Ltd. We
note that the CMBC shares were originally subscribed on 4-Jul-2018 using a loan
from Gentle Soar, 5 weeks after Gentle Soar pledged its 70% holding in FDB to
CMBC Capital Finance.
Sanctions against
ex-directors of National Investments Fund (1227) | The
National Investment Fund that isn't
SEHK,
17-Mar-2022
This relates to our article of 23-Mar-2019. NIF is now in
liquidation and is/was a member of what we call the "Chung Nam Network".
Duo charged by ICAC
with conspiracy to defraud Lands Department over HK$1bn Yuen Long small house
project
ICAC, 16-Mar-2022
Edward
Wong Kwong Wing is a solicitor. Ching Chan Ming is a Heung Yee Kuk member of
Yuen Long District Council. The charges involve the alleged pre-sale of "Ding
Rights" of male indigenous inhabitants carrying a Y-chromosome inherited from an
1898 villager.
SFC obtains court
order to disqualify ex-FD and ex-INED of DBA Telecommunication (ex-3335) | Judgment
SFC, 9-Mar-2022
The INED, Paul Yun Lok
Ming, is allowed to remain as a Partner of Fan, Chan & Co. Ltd., an audit firm.
And much more besides...
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David M. Webb
Editor, Webb-site.com