Wednesday 2nd March 2011

Dear Reader,

We will close our INED poll at 6pm HK time on Friday, so this is your last chance to contribute! Your voting PIN is at the top of this e-mail.

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NEW ARTICLE
Now withdraw the SSD proposal
Latest disclosures show that the increase in short-term resales from 2009 to 2010 was only 1.9% of transactions, and fewer than 1 in 5 are in that category. Having abandoned one unpopular budget measure this week already, the Government should now do the right thing and abandon the Special Stamp Duty proposal. It is illegitimate, unconstitutional, creates too many unintended victims and runs the risk of chaos upon a successful judicial review. (2-Mar-2011)

RECENTLY ON WEBB-SITE
Reforming Salaries Tax
The budget was devoid of any structural reform to public finances. In our first article in a series, Webb-site fills the void with a proposal to reform Salaries Tax to make it a simpler, fairer and flat tax. (24-Feb-2011)

The three wise monkeys of HK boards
SEHK has proposed minor reforms to the composition of boards which completely miss the core issue - INEDs are only as independent and competent as the controlling shareholder wants them to be, as long as he or it votes on the INED elections. We call for independent directors to be independently-elected. Tell us what you think!. Read our article and then take our poll on INEDs. (15-Feb-2011)

IN OTHER NEWS
PECS Register monthly update
HK Government, 28-Feb-2011

Oriental Press Group Ltd, Ma Ching Kwan & others v Fevaworks Solutions Ltd & Alive! Media & Communications Ltd
HK Court of First Instance, 25-Feb-2011
In this libel case, the court finds that the operators of an internet discussion forum were mere "subordinate distributors" and as such the defence of innocent dissemination is open to them, but they lose that defence if they fail to remove defamatory material after they become aware of it.

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