Title: Shares in Television Companies (dated 17.3.1988)
Author: TONG Yuk-hon
The
conditions
companies.
Government has recently announced
the
for renewing the licence of the television
Before making
making the
announcement,
an official
revealed that there would be more restrictions
shareholding by foreigners.
on
However, the new conditions
in a way blur the nationality restrictions on shareholding
in television companies.
2.
The licence issuing conditions provide that in a
television company the total number of shares held by
foreign interests shall not exceed 49% (this is the
existing condition) and any single foreign shareholder
shall not own or control more than 10% of the share
capital of the television company.
This shows that
shareholding in a television company is an important
matter of public interest. That official also said that,
according to the research by the Broadcasting Authority,
countries like Britain, the USA, Australia and New Zealand
have more stringent conditions than Hong Kong regarding
shareholding by foreign companies.