This infringement of the rules of racing may not be a reflection of the gentlemen's business integrity.
Nor does it necessarily mean that these gentlemen do not have the shareholders of their companies at heart when they are making company decisions.
One may safely assume that investors generally invest in a company in order to make money, and one may also safely assume that honest directors of companies generally try to make money for their companies and, it follows, for share-
holders.
Naturally, directors also like to make money for them- selves, although not usually by iniquitable means.
The question often arises as to what proportion of the money that a director makes for his company will end up in his wallet.
It is not known how many directors of publicly-listed companies have used their positions in order to line their pockets.
It is suggested, though, that Mr Albert Kwok Chi Hong, before his death in 1986, borrowed lots and lots of money from The Wing On Bank Ltd, using his position as Chief General Manager to accomplish his evil deeds of theft.
None of the money was repaid by Mr Kwok -- but then he died before the cops could knobble him, anyway.
Mr George Tan, former Chairman of the now defunct Carrian Group, was charged with making misleading state- ments in the 1981 annual accounts of Carrian Investments
Ltd.
Mr Tan was acquitted on a charge of defrauding share- holders and creditors of Carrian Investments Ltd by Mr Justice Dennis Barker.
The Carrian trial was the longest and most expensive trial in the history of Hongkong.
Mr Justice Barker was criticised for his handling of the case: He has since resigned.
The Companies Ordinance, Chapter 32
There are a number of restrictions aimed at directors of companies in the Companies Ordinance.
For instance, under section 157C, no person shall be capable of being appointed a director of a company unless at the time of his appointment he has attained the age of 21
years.
There is nothing to say, however, that a person may not become a director of a company, public or private, because they have been convicted of a criminal offence.
In some cases, though, a person may be disqualified from
becoming a director of a company, in certain situations, for a limited period of time.
Section 157E(1)(a) of the Companies Ordinance states: Where a person is convicted of any indictable offence in connection with the promotion, formation or management of a company, or of any other indictable offence his conviction of which necessarily involves a finding that he acted fraudulently or dishonestly... the court may make an order that that person shall not, without the leave of the court, be a director.
The court order, if such an order were to be executed against an individual, would specify a period of time for which that individual would not be permitted to be a director.
The same could apply to a director who, in the course of winding up a company:
appears to have been guilty of an offence for which he is liable (whether or not he has been convicted); or appears to have been guilty, while an officer of the company, of reckless conduct in relation to the man- agement of the company; or
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