Friday 16th March 2012

Dear Reader,

So far 560 of you have cast your votes for CE in our poll. 34.6% would cast a blank vote, 10.9% would vote for Albert Ho, 11.4% for Henry Tang, and 43.0% for C Y Leung. Meanwhile we've had 1304 participants in the odds questions with C Y Leung's chances of being CE standing at 44.8%, Henry Tang's at 33.2%, and Someone Else at 18.8%. Who will be CE, and whom would you vote for, if you were allowed to vote? Please update your estimates and cast your vote. Your PIN is above.

NEW ARTICLE
Stop the BoCom placing: get a rights issue
We call on SEHK and SSE to stop the big 3 holders from voting to approve each other's subscriptions, which would create a dangerous precedent. Thankfully BoCom has no general mandate, so they also need a special resolution to approve the placing on which they must all abstain. We urge independent shareholders to block it and call for a rights issue instead, and we suggest a way around the primitive NAV rule. (16-Mar-2012)

RECENT ARTICLES
HKEx preps for placing
Apart from seeking a steep pay hike, the HKEx board is seeking to double its mandate to issue shares for cash without a rights issue, at double the discount of last year's mandate. Couple that with the leaked bid for the London Metal Exchange, and you can see where this is going. We urge shareholders to protect their rights by voting down the general mandate. If HKEx proceeds with LME (and we query why), then a rights issue can fund it. (15-Mar-2012)

Decapitate the headcount
We make the case for abolition of the archaic and anarchic headcount rule in Schemes of Arrangement, which was brought into focus when we reported evidence of a vote-rigging scheme in the proposed PCCW privatisation in 2009. For once, the tycoons agree with us, but the Government seems afraid to take the lead. (12-Mar-2012)

IN OTHER NEWS
Vongroup CEO acquitted of disclosing false or misleading information inducing transactions. The announcement in question.
SFC, 15-Mar-2012
"The Court acquitted Vong after finding that there was insufficient evidence to prove that Vong was involved in the announcement or the press release" - er, but his name was on the signature block "By Order of the Board"! So if he didn't sign off on it, then the announcement was misleading in that respect

Boshiwa (1698): more from Deloitte's resignation letter
Company announcement, 15-Mar-2012
"we continue to have concerns about matters pervasive to the financial statements including, for example, the existence and commercial substance of recorded prepayments amounting to RMB392,000,000 with a supplier of the Group; and the existence of specified OK card distributors, merchandise distributors and trade suppliers of the Group and the commercial substance of recorded transactions with these entities"

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