Purpose
This section sets out the scope of work undertaken in furtherance of the purposes of this study discussed in Section 1.
There are two primary methodological questions that need to be addressed in a study of Hong Kong corporate governance (CG) that references CG systems in other jurisdictions: defining the scope of CG as a concept, and determining the geographical scope of the comparator jurisdictions.
The topic of CG is clearly open to many different approaches depending on how one defines CG, «good CG» and what values are assigned to its role in relation to the market as a whole, the owners and managers of the company, and the other entities that have a stake in the way the business of a company is organized and run. The parameters of «good CG» for the purposes of this study are set out in Section 2.1.1 «CG concepts».
The study is in large part driven by considering Hong Kong's CG system in light of the CG systems that have developed in other relevant jurisdictions. The rationale underlying the choice of jurisdictions for the purposes of this study is set out in Section 2.1.2 «Geographic reach».
Section 2.2 «Work process» explains the approach taken to the undertaking of the study including the collection and organization of data, the preparation of the jurisdiction summaries in the Appendices and the development of the analysis and recommendations in Sections 3 and 4 of this report.
A note on funding
This project was entirely funded by the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA). The general scope of the study was framed by the HKICPA, as discussed in Section 1. The mandate given to the authors of this report was to conduct an independent enquiry and accordingly this study was not constrained by any preset views, preferences or desired outcomes, nor did it include any requirement to have regard to the interests of the members of the HKICPA. The HKICPA formed a Working Group to monitor progress. While there was a diversity of opinion within the Working Group on various recommendations made herein, the final decision to include or not include a recommendation rested solely with the authors of this report.