Wednesday 15th May 2019

Dear Reader,

Happy Enigma Day. It's the 2nd anniversary of our report on the Enigma Network, so nice of Bloomberg to cover it with a story.

NEW ARTICLE
Andrew Fan, Universal INED
A quick look at tomorrow's new listing sees an INED taking his 10th board seat. In our view, he should have found time to check his prospectus biography more carefully. (15-May-2019)

RECENTLY IN WEBB-SITE REPORTS
Stop the Scripless U-turn
Investors were in the dark for 4 years about plans to tear up a model that was first recommended by the Hay Davison Report in 1988, has worked in Australia since 1999, and was legislated in HK in 2015 but never actioned. Our extensive discussions with SFC and HKEX reveal no legitimate issues. We urge legislators to reject this U-turn and the SFC to proceed with the legislated model. The stench of vested interests is overpowering. (30-Apr-2019)

Enigma fallout: the social media fund
We piece together disclosures by 4 listed companies in the Enigma Network to reveal a pseudo-fund which held a single 55% stake in a social media company, posing new questions for the regulators. (28-Apr-2019)

Putting the dot back in HK
A deep dive into HK's "not-for-profit" internet domain registry reveals appalling governance, over-charging, continuing conflicts of interests and a severe case of corporate obesity. In late 2015, having hoarded enough cash to run the registry for 9 years, the Government-controlled board reversed a fee cut, losing a quarter of registered domains over the next 3 years, while seeking ways to squander the surpluses on mission-creep rather than return the cash to users. There is a better way. (25-Apr-2019)

IN OTHER NEWS
The spectacular implosion of Dr. Cho's 'nefarious network' | The Enigma Network
Bloomberg, 15-May-2019
Today is the 2nd anniversary of Webb-site's publication of the Enigma Network. So far, nobody has been charged with any offence, and no SFC action has been taken to bring in the liquidators to wind up any of the listed companies involved.

Censure of GT (0263) and certain directors | The Joint Global implosion
SEHK, 14-May-2019
This relates to our investigative report "The Joint Global implosion" of 30-Sep-2016. The announcement states that the Listing Department began investigating in mid-Oct-2016. In our view, the SFC and possibly the Commercial Crime Bureau should be investigating the circumstances of the collapse of Joint Global, which wiped over HK$2bn off the balance sheets of at least 11 listed companies in what we call the "Chung Nam Network".

Concentration warning in Bisu Tech (1372)
SFC, 10-May-2019
The top 20 holders have 90.6%.

HKICPA bans Richard Yin Yingneng for 2 years
HKICPA, 2-May-2019
Amazingly, it was only 18 months after the SFC's announcement of the Court's findings that the HKICPA "became aware" of the wrong-doing by its members, including Kenny Lee Yiu Sun. There appears to be some sort of communications failure between the 2 regulators.

And much more besides...
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David M. Webb
Editor, Webb-site.com