A Financial Centre for Two Empires
Hong Kong's Corporate, Securities and Tax Laws in its Transition from Britain to China

An historical, empirical, doctrinal and comparative case study of how a former British colony became China's international financial centre.

David C. Donald (Author), Jiangyu Wang (Contributions by), Jefferson P. VanderWolk (Contributions by)

9781107004801, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 19 June 2014

292 pages, 27 b/w illus.
23.5 x 15.5 x 1.7 cm, 0.59 kg

This is a case study of legal transplant, economic development, cultural adaptation and political integration. Hong Kong's journey from British entrepôt to China's international financial centre is one of the most interesting legal stories of our time. But Hong Kong's future is even more interesting: will this region with British-origin institutions survive full integration into China and become its permanent international financial centre? Does Hong Kong have the legal infrastructure to compete effectively with Shanghai and Singapore, and even New York and London? A Financial Centre for Two Empires presents Hong Kong's story, examines its corporate economy and securities market, assesses its corporate, securities and tax laws for doctrinal soundness and appropriate remedies, and evaluates the quality of their enforcement empirically. It closes with a view of Hong Kong from the perspective of developments in Beijing and Shanghai, including an examination of the important political dimension.

1. History's marks on Hong Kong law: from British colony to Chinese SAR
2. Hong Kong's economic structure: the corporate control context
3. Hong Kong corporate and securities laws in response to the region's role as China's international financial centre
4. The role of Hong Kong's tax policies
5. Enforcement of corporate and securities law in Hong Kong
6. China's impact on Hong Kong's position as an international financial centre: the legal and policy dimensions.

Subject Areas: Banking law [LNPB], Financial law [LNP], Company, commercial & competition law [LNC], Comparative law [LAM], Law [L]