With reference to the letters from Henry Law (December 9), William Gamble (December 7) and Frederick Ma (December 5): the level of investor protection provided by the Hong Kong Exchange (HKEx) is neither on a par with international standards (a position embraced by Mr Law and Mr Ma) nor is it sub-par (as asserted by Mr Gamble). When it comes to investor protection, the HKEx is at the top of the league tables.
The most advanced research that measures “investor protection” is being conducted by Simeon Djankov and his colleagues at the World Bank’s investment climate department. In the bank’s “Doing Business in 2006” report, Hong Kong ties for third among the 145 countries included in the “investor protection index”. Only New Zealand and Singapore earned higher scores.
Steve H. Hanke,
Professor of Applied Economics,
The Johns Hopkins University,
Baltimore, MD 21218, US
