ZKIZ Archives


Clean Up Our Financial Markets

2011-6-16  NM




From the perspective of anyone with an interest in the health of Hong Kong’s financial markets, we have to be very concerned with the recent events in the United Sates that raise questions over whether some of the private enterprise Chinese companies listed there are complete frauds.Charles Li, the Chief Executive of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, was right to point out to the press that many of the companies that are involved in the increasing number of scandals over there would not have remotely qualified for a listing in Hong Kong in the first place.

However, and his comments were broadly correct, this should not mean that we smugly go off into the distance thinking that the growing international mistrust of Chinese private sector companies, and their sponsor banks, is of no relevance to us.It is quite true that we may have listing rules and requirements in Hong Kong that would have stopped many of these particular, NASDAQ “backdoor” listing, companies coming to the local market, but the fact is that we have had more than our fair share of scandals anyway, despite our supposedly more onerous rules.Anyone with any involvement in the market here knows that in fact, we have a pretty strong stench coming from our own trail of corporate scandal here in our very own backyard. Companies with local and international management, focusing on overseas markets, have been racked by scandal, just as companies that are run on the Mainland by management from there, have also often been proven to be a minefield for investors. Moulin is a pretty good example of the former, and Sino-Forest looks to be turning out to be a pretty good example of a corporate fiasco from the mainland.Smug we should not be, especially as it can be argued that few, if any, of the backdoor listing Chinese companies in North America would have attracted long term institutional money and the goings on there, whilst embarrassing for the Exchange, do not impact the mainstream of key global investors.On the other hand, if Hong Kong holds itself out as being well regulated, it can be even more damaging when fraud and accounting irregularities hit the market as institutional investors have often been large holders in scandal hit companies here, because they are told that they operate under a “modern” regulatory regime.

 

As someone who sat on The Listing Committee for a recent four year period, that is the last organization that should be blamed for shortcomings in the system. It has a mandate to decide a number of things, but the one thing that it cannot decide is whether a company should be listed it or not. This approval is essentially a matter of fact. The rules and published precedents prescribe what criteria a company needs to meet before it can be listed, while sponsors, valuers and accountants have specified responsibilities, including the SFC-licensed sponsors of the issue having an overriding duty of care to carry out due diligence.If someone acting in a professional capacity in preparing a prospectus says that a certain fact is correct, and certifies that they have done the work to come to this conclusion, then neither the Listing Committee nor people at the Exchange can raise any objection.On a good number of occasions, draft prospectuses that were seeking approval were presented to be met with, let’s politely say, a degree of skepticism by members. However, the members’ raised eyebrows fell back to their normal positions when it became apparent that the sponsors had signed off on everything being dandy.The SFC does, however, also have a responsibility to vet prospectuses and they do indeed have powers that the Exchange does not have. So, it was good news this week when Martin Wheatley, on leaving his role at the SFC, raised the prospect of ensuring that professional advisers who knowingly, or unknowingly, are involved in preparing fraudulent new issue documents could face criminal charges in future.There is a dark underside to our financial markets, with a number of players who “play the game”, knowing that the current penalties, in the absence of investors being able to pursue class actions, are modest to non existent. As Chinese companies are undermining investors’ confidence in some overseas markets, Hong Kong needs to protect its reputation assiduously, which also means that local investors will also be better protected. Statutory backing to the Listing Rules, which is promised, and criminal sanctions against sponsors are both much overdue – let’s move ahead as quickly as possible.

 

Stephen Brown is a director of the Civic Exchange, a Hong Kong-based think tank.We are now on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Next2ndOpinion/464005150156


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The Fault in Our Stars

今天,是我在香港的第七個生日,也是在公號上與你們共度的第二個生日。

 

去年跟你們講過為什麽會有蝸牛妹的公號,是因為無數的可能性:哪怕只有一個聽眾,只要足夠努力,你的聲音會被聽到;只要足夠認真,你的內容會被認可;只要足夠堅持,你便能改變自己的未來。

 

今年review,多了92篇原創推送和18279個粉絲,但業務模式和開號宗旨沒有變化:填補市場與受眾之間的信息不對稱,共建和諧中港二級市場!

 

而也是在過去一年,有一個問題被大家頻頻問起:為什麽你可以做公號?

 

這個話題,必須得憶當年了:我是在2009年,懷揣著一顆做新聞的夢想來到香港的。大學時在某門戶網站實習了半年,看到那麽多的網管辦的每日指令後,想在一個有新聞自由的地方,寫事實、講真話,這便是我與香港的開始。

 

研究生時候學到很多東西,過得非常充實,但是畢業之後怎麽在香港養活自己就成了最大的難題。原來我想去做一名戰地記者、或者時事記者、或者F1記者,但這些職位在香港機會尼瑪比投行MD的機會還要少啊。

 

第一份工作,我先從一家start up的港式英超網站編輯做起,月薪真是講出來不怕大家笑話,只有6000港幣(我活到現在也是個奇跡)。暑假邊做邊找工作時候,發現香港媒體的工作,最多的就是財經記者了(想想也說得通,金融是大支柱,肯定得有配套服務業),然後找到了一間剛成立的財經雜誌做記者。

 

我還記得剛去的第一天,被總編輯派去金鐘某酒店,聽大和的策略會。坐在那第一次體會到了什麽叫做懵逼,雖然聽懂他們說的英文單詞,但是完全不明白他們在說什麽。自由發問時間,香港記者們開始向當時大和的首席經濟師孫明春老師中文提問,孫老師答完之後,我悲催的發現自己連中文都不太聽得懂他們到底在講什麽!




此處應有與孫明春老師的合照,可惜並沒有,QAQ~~~



 

這樣邊入行邊快速學習,本來應該是件很開心的事,但那段時間過得卻非常不好,因為是每周三出版的財經周刊(後已倒閉),也就意味著從周五晚上開始,大家就要熬夜加班填版面,周五開始周三刊發,休息兩天,周而複始。絕對是拿著少了幾個零的IBD生活!

 

那段時間,熬夜寫稿就是全部的生活,連朋友都見不到。過了還沒一個月呢,從來不長痘的我開始冒痘,整個人封閉著,心情開始暴躁起來。而雜誌一直沒啥起色,也找不到有經驗的記者、編輯來幹活,大家越做越累。

 

即便如此,更苦逼的事還是發生了。2011年的春節前,因為香港的春節只放四天假,於是問編輯可不可以多在家請幾天假,被殘忍拒絕後,只好訂了大年三十回家,初四回香港的機票。結果在放假前幾天,竟然收到編輯發出來的大信封,就在鄰近春節、我過試用期前把我給裁了(補償金就是一個星期)!而我都跟她確定好了回程的機票啊!

 

回到家,因為不想爸媽大過節的擔心,沒跟他們提起這事。春節後回來香港就開始了努力找工作,那真叫窮的要喝西北風了,我那位猴年馬月結婚的閨蜜就讓我蹭了好多好多頓飯,於是我還學會了用電飯煲煮粥的技能。估計到這里老天覺得我差不多了,賜了我一份電臺主播的工作,終於過上了不用熬夜、生物鐘穩定的生活。也讓我可以給大家笑談人生,感謝上個月裁了我的總編輯當年裁員之恩。

 

做主播最初的半年時間里,花了半年時間適應做直播的膽戰心驚。開始一天有一節6分鐘的節目,雖然有一個早上時間準備,但節目開始前總會擔心寫不完稿子,直播時候又擔心自己語速太快,稿子萬一不夠讀六分鐘該怎麽辦。

 

但更難的地方是,你真的明白你念出來的每句話麽?在各位好基友的幫助下,我終於分清了買方和賣方;2011年的通脹周期,記者們吐槽堪比大姨媽的CPI數據,讓我摸到了宏觀經濟的大腿了;抱著男神出品的Kindle,看書學習,也終於能出去努力和大佬們談笑風生的做訪問去了。

 

說到約大佬,是件既拼人品、又拼腦力的事情。首先,每個港股交易日都有節目,每天都要有個不同的嘉賓,天天都請一個嘉賓做直播也是不容易的事。

 

而且要想請嘉賓,你首先要知道自己當天說什麽話題吧,也就是說你得知道市場熱點在哪里。在我當時淺顯的市場知識上,好不容易想到采訪話題知識才是萬里長城第一步,你還要找到采訪嘉賓、把采訪提綱給人家啊。“嘉賓拒我千百遍,我待嘉賓如初戀”說的就是我。

 

也記不得是打過多少cold call,被多少嘉賓拒絕過多少次。最驚險一次是直播前半個小時,有個我已經記不起來名字的嘉賓告訴我,不做了!!!好吧,世界那麽大,火速換了整份采訪提綱,找了個老相好嘉賓,趕鴨子式的上了直播時間。

 

雖然肯定有拒我千百遍的嘉賓,但依然是有很多待我如初戀的嘉賓的,比如兩次在美國夜里兩三點接了我電話的嘉賓,下著黃雨到我直播室做直播的嘉賓,知道我生病於是說的比較多、減輕我負擔的嘉賓,等等等等。

 

三年多時間里,各大行的首席經濟學家,知名策略師、基金經理、分析師、行業專家、創投界名人,數百位的嘉賓、每天十分鐘的專訪,成了我不能期望更好的職業再教育和學習了。

 

但除了播出的節目,還有很多話題之所以我們沒有辦法觸碰,因為操作上沒有可行性。很多市場熱點,不是你找不到合適的人評論,而是這個合適的人選不能接受媒體訪問;或者受限於每天都要有采訪,一些持續性的熱點,沒有辦法一次性深入地探討;即使兩者都符合,很多時候,on the record的訪問,也不一定有off the record來的真實;或者一些有趣的話題,適合大家嚴肅八卦,但卻不適合放入節目之中。

 

基於以上種種原因,我便踏上了漫漫專欄路至今。也被人問及過為什麽現在工作這麽忙還要寫公號?因為這里始終是一個督促我不要忘記進一步學習、持續接受新事物的地方。

 

過去在香港的七年,雖然有那麽多苦逼、覺得生活沒有希望的時刻,但是當這時候把這些經歷笑著告訴你們的同時,讓我想起了一部電影—— The Fault in Our Stars。

 

There are infinite numbers between 0 and 1.

零和一之間有無數的可能。

 

There's .1 and .12 and .112 and an infinite collection of others.

有0.1,0.12,0.112,世界不是非黑即白。

 

Of course, there is a bigger infinite set of numbers between 0 and 2, or between 0 and a million. Some infinities are bigger than other infinities.

但零和二、零和一百萬之間,卻有著更多的可能,令人更加向往。

 

I want more numbers than I'm likely to get. But I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity. I wouldn't trade it for the world. You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I'm grateful.

雖然我也有很多想要的東西,但是在我與我的26926名讀者間的無限可能,是我不會用任何代價去交換的。感謝你們陪我走過的每一篇推送,每一天。

 

回到開篇那個問題:為什麽我會做公號?如果說過去幾年的香港生活教會了我一件事:雖然生活會讓我們辛苦,但只有我們才能將它變成自己更強大的墊腳石。

 

畢竟,永遠都有更大的可能性等著我們。


今天好像有點嚴肅,但是兩位粉絲代表已經送出了你們的濃濃愛意,吹完蠟燭,逗逼的我,會再回來噠~~

 

 



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