Within the scope of the considerations set out in Section 2.1 above, the initial primary task of commencing this study was to undertake a review of each of the jurisdictions studied.
This exercise was focused on the present state of affairs in each jurisdiction. Recent developments in each jurisdiction was assessed with a view to garnering a better understanding of the directional shifts that CG systems having been taking since around 2000, as well as understanding the extent to which developments in the CG mechanisms have been more or less effective, or in some instances, counterproductive.
In undertaking that research, the focus was on issues that may be relevant to Hong Kong, and how these issues are addressed in other comparative markets.
An initial sweep of the following materials obtained from online and library sources was undertaken for each to this report:
laws (statutes and common law or equivalent; case law);
non-statutory regulations;
stock exchange listing rules;
policy papers of the government;
consultation papers of the regulator;
academic journal articles;
market statistics (where available);
media coverage;
other sources as appropriate.
In this initial part of the data collection exercise some care was taken to check if the overseas CG system has been accurately described, particularly having regard to sources that may describe the CG system as operating differently in practice from what may appear in the text.