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or 8 August when the Hong Kong Freeze Order was already in
place.
8.
Most of the selling orders of which the Hong Kong
Government were aware emanated from the Kuwait Investment
office in London and Hong Kong drew the attention of the
Bank of England to this (Hong Kong telno 2471 and 2500).
The Hong Kong Government have established that the portfolio management arm of the Jardine Matheson Group which manages a portfolio for the Kuwait Investment authority continued buying and selling stocks for the portfolio even after the Hong Kong freeze was in place.
9.
As far as Mr Keswick's allegations regarding
"extraterritoriality" are concerned, the Hong Kong
Government do not accept that any restrictions that have been placed on the activities of overseas registered
companies through the Stock Exchange listing rules amount to
an exercise of extraterritorial jurisdiction. They maintain
that Hong Kong's listing rules and other investor protection reqirements are standard for listed companies in any of the major financial centres of the world and no more rigorous,
for example, than in London. The Hong Kong Government, understandably, take the view that in the interests of
investors, the same ground rules should apply to all stocks
and shares listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
10.
Locally registered companies are currently prohibited by law from buying back their own shares. Overseas registered companies (which now account for 25% of all
shares listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange) are also
prevented from exercising any right of buy-back which may be permitted under company legislation in their place of incorporation (Bermuda, where Jardines is registered, for example, allows buy-backs without any restrictions). Hong Kong Government do not intend to allow the unrestricted
The
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CONFIDENTIAL