Statement by Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury

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Following is a statement made by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Frederick Ma, today (September 10), in response to the Report of the Panel of Inquiry on the Penny Stocks Incident:

I welcome the Report of the Panel of Inquiry on the Penny Stocks Incident. The Report is very thorough and has made recommendations for improvement in a number of areas. I accept and support the recommendations.

While the Report pointed out that I have not failed in the discharge of my responsibilities in the course of the preparation and release of the Consultation Paper by the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (HKEx), it has criticized my performance before the Legislative Council Financial Affairs Panel meeting as sub-par. I understand that many citizens share this view. I accept the criticisms sincerely, and pledge to do better in the future.

Looking forward, my colleagues in the Bureau and I stand ready to assist the Financial Secretary in following up on the relevant recommendations of the Report. We will also take steps to strengthen communication and co-operation with the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and HKEx.

We will, as suggested by the Report, remain fully committed to strengthening the status of Hong Kong as an international financial centre. We will press ahead with reform measures to enhance corporate governance, transparency and quality of financial markets, as well as the interest of minority shareholders. The SFC and HKEx both have an important role to play in this, and we look forward to facilitating and coordinating the work.

We hope that lessons can be learnt from this incident and improvements put in place for the future.

End/Tuesday, September 10, 2002

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