Trading Places

David Webb has left his position as an independent non-executive director at Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) accompanied with a stinging attack on the exchange in his resignation letter to the board. In a letter published by the exchange, Webb condemns the governance of the exchange concluding that “serving on the HKEX board is no longer an optimal use”. Webb detailed six examples of what he described as a “low standard board”, a claim that the Asian bourse has emphatically denied. Webb told the exchange that he had grown tired of refusals by the management board to detail information. He added that he was particularly frustrated by meetings held by the exchange and third parties and the subsequent failure of HKEX to pass on information unless the third party consented to the disclosure. While the criticism was particular fierce, he detailed yet more issues that he had with the...