Corporate Governance in Hong Kong

ASX’s Corporate Governance Principle is one of the main sources of regulatory and best practice guidance on corporate governance topic; its approaches are considered to build a series of standard basis to administrate corporate behavior via modernising companies’ corporate governance in order to face both Australian and international market competitions. There have been 3 editions of corporate governance principles and recommendations, modified in

Corporate governance in itself has no single definition but common principles which it should follow. For example in 1994 the most agreed term for corporate governance was “the process of supervision and control intended to ensure that the company’s management acts in accordance with the interest of shareholders” (Parkinson, 1994)1. Corporate governance code is not a direct set of rules but a self-regulated framework which businesses choose to follow. This code has continued to change in the past 20 years in accordance with what is happening in the business world. For example the Enron scandal caused reform in corporate governance with the Higgs Report which corrected the issues which were necessary. Although it does not quickly fix problems, it gives a better framework to

Phenomenal growth of interest in corporate governance has emerged in recent years. The body of literature on the subject has grown markedly in response to successive waves of large corporate failures. Furthermore, there have been numerous attempts to define what constitutes ‘good corporate governance’ and to provide guidelines in order to enhance the quality of corporate governance.

Alongside this regulatory response in the United-States, in the United-Kingdom rules of good practice and principles for good corporate governance have emerged in the form of Reports and Codes (even before the Enron crisis occurs). Similarly, the international economic actors also codified rules and principles for a good corporate governance.

The main reason to developing Corporate Governance is the protection of investors. Investors need not only reliable financial information, but also corporate governance information to be protected against unethical and dishonest behaviour by management or directors. Corporate Governance is the system which checks and balances both internal and external to companies. Besides, it meritorious to ensure that companies discharge their accountability to all their stakeholders. Moreover, Corporate Governance also acts in a socially responsible way in all areas of their business activity. (Solomon 2013). Thus, it is vital to analysis a company’s behaviours and evaluated its performance in Corporate Governance. (Monks. R and Minow N corporate governance 2009)

The ASX gives some detailed suggestions for the rules, such as board and senior executives should make a commitment to the code of conduct, and explain how the company copes with practical and possible conflict of interest. These suggestions allow corporation executives know more detailed information about how to make a promote ethical and responsible decision(ASX2010, pp22-25).

The implementation of an effective corporate governance framework can contribute to better performance and market valuation of shares.

Definitions of corporate governance are many. According to Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), “Procedures and processes according to which an organization is directed and controlled. The corporate governance structure specifies the distribution of rights and responsibilities among the different participants in the organization – such as the board, managers, shareholders and other stakeholders – and lays down the rules and procedures for decision-making.”(Reference)

Corporate governance is an increasingly important topic in this age of globalisation, it is a global occurrence which in turn makes the subject complex, with issues of ownership, cultural, legal and other structural differences being involved. From this broad scope, it is discernible that the functions of the board are inseparable from the topic of corporate governance and in turn what effect these have and will potentially have on the share price in the future.

The corporate sector constitutes a dominant part of industry. Financial sector reforms along with the development of the capital market are changing the structure of corporate financing. This has led to a separation of ownership and the management and has given rise to the issue of corporate governance, among others. Corporate governance essentially deals with the ways of governing the corporations so as to improve their financial performance. The need for governance arises mainly due

• Critically analyze the impact of recommendations and regulations of corporate governance on organizations within a global context

Corporate governance is necessary because of the problems caused by the divorce of ownership and control in modern organisations. In order to protect the stakeholders of an organisation, regulators addressed the problem by introducing corporate governance frameworks that

A dynamic and fundamental view of business nowadays is presented in corporate governance. As a term, governance comes from a Latin word gubernar means to guide; describing the main purpose of modern governance which is guiding relations between different counterparties. That emphasizes directing function rather than monitoring function. The definitions of corporate governance always concentrate on shareholders’ relations with their companies. The new definitions of governance mention on accountability to various stakeholders as a significant role of governance. Successful business is badly needed for corporate governance as well it is significantly for social and environmental benefits, which cannot be ignored. Global financial crisis and companies collapsing caused of a weak governance system have spotlighted the need of improving corporate governance. The crises has pushed countries to issues regulations in order to protect financial markets such as Sarbanes-Oxley 2002 in United States of America and Higgs report 2003 in United Kingdom presenting quick respond on financial crisis and failures of corporate governance. The lesson of current crisis requests from researches to look on the structure of incentives and on a poor controlling system. That led to review corporate governance concepts and to modify and issue new recommendations to improve governance practices such

Hong Kong is one of the world’s leading financial centers and it is an efficiency service-oriented free market economy. Hong Kong’s economic freedom score is 90.1 on a 100-point scale, making it the top-rated economy in the Index for the 20th consecutive year (Heritage.org, 2014). Hong Kong’s economy is normally characterized by its low taxation, light regulation and well established international trading environment.

From 1986 until now and more than 25 years from DOI MOI, the policy of multi-sector economy has implemented, Vietnamese enterprises have formed and developed very fast, very strong in Vietnam, widely available across the country and in all economic sectors. With the rapid growth in the number and scale of development, corporate governance (CG) becomes a factor attracting huge attention from the business and corporate law makers. Business environment is being improved leading to the corporate governance framework also builds complete. Vietnam’s CG has been recognized by the world is consistent with the requirements and principles but common CG activities in