About Us

What is Webb-site.com?
What makes us different?
Who is David M. Webb?
Who reads Webb-site.com?
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For coverage of Webb-site.com, see our media room. If you are from the media, you may need our Webb-Photos gallery to illustrate your articles.

What is Webb-site.com?

Webb-site.com was established in 1998 by David M. Webb, a former investment banker who has lived in Hong Kong since 1991. We provide an independent commentary on corporate and economic governance, business, finance, investment and regulatory affairs in Hong Kong. Webb-site.com is run on a not-for-profit basis.

What Makes us Different?

Investment banks and brokers are often conflicted from saying what they really think, because their comments would be negative to the companies or government concerned. This is not unique to Asia, it is an industry-wide problem.

These firms get a lot of new issue and advisory business from corporate clients, and they also risk being shut off from information flow if their analysts are too negative on a company. Some analysts have even been fired for negative coverage of a company or government. If a firm offends a government, they are likely to lose future mandates for advising on things like bank restructuring or privatisations, and can even find difficulties with licensing and operating their business.

At Webb-site.com, we don't have these hang-ups. We provide this site as a "pro bono" service to the community. We tell it the way we see it. Our goals are:

• to increase the transparency and efficiency of free markets and their participants, including companies, governments, regulators and controlling shareholders
• to oppose all forms of cronyism, favouritism or protectionism by governments
• to oppose anti-competitive behaviour by monopolies or oligopolies
• to demand fair treatment for minority shareholders, to educate and inform them, and promote their participation in corporate decision making
• to promote civil liberties, including freedom of speech, thought, assembly, movement and trade, the right to private property, and the democratic right to elect any office which has the power to interfere with those freedoms.

Our only potential conflict in what we say is that from time to time we may own long or short positions in securities issued by companies or governments on which we comment. That's unavoidable - we've got to put our money somewhere.

Who is David M. Webb?

David M. Webb is a retired investment banker. He spent 12 years in the field, the first 5 in London before moving to Hong Kong in 1991. He was a Corporate Finance Director of BZW Asia Limited, conducting equity issues and advisory mandates throughout Asia until 1994, when he became in-house adviser to Wheelock, a local listed conglomerate. He retired in 1998 and now divides his time between non-profit governance advocacy, including Webb-site.com, and researching the Hong Kong market, particularly smaller companies. His public roles include:

• Deputy Chairman of Hong Kong's Takeovers and Mergers Panel (2013-), Member (2001-)
• Member of the Takeovers Appeal Committee (2001-)
• Member of The Forum of Young Global Leaders (2005-2011)

Past roles include:

• elected independent non-executive director of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (2003-2008)
• member of the SFC Public Shareholders Group (2001-2007)
• member of the Shareholders' Sub-committee of the HKSAR Government Standing Committee on Company Law Reform (2001-2004)
• Chairman of Hong Kong Mensa (1998-2000), Committee Member (2000-2003)
• Non-executive director of ASrIA (2001-2003)
• member of the Working Group on New Market Development of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (1997-1999)

Awards include:

• The FABBAs Golden Telephone Award "for long-standing achievement and success in the equities industry", 2011
• Named one of the 50 most influential people in Asian financial markets by FinanceAsia magazine, Nov-2009
• Named in the Top 20 Asia Progressives by World Business magazine, 2007
• Member of CFO Magazine Global 100, 2002
• Named by World Economic Forum as a Global Leader for Tomorrow, 2001
• Business Week Star of Asia, 2000
• Financial Technology Asia magazine's TMT Analyst of the Year 2000

Mr Webb graduated in mathematics from Exeter College, Oxford University in 1986 and prior to that was a computer geek, authoring "Supercharge Your Spectrum" (1983) and "Advanced Spectrum Machine Language" (1984), both books on the subject of machine language programming for the Z-80 based Sinclair Spectrum computer. He also wrote a number of best-selling games for the Sinclair Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64, which were in the first generation of 8-bit home computers.

His HKID number is P135143(9).

Copyright Notice

All material on this site, except where otherwise accredited, is copyright to Webb-site.com. Media are welcome to quote from articles on this site, provided that such quotation is attributed to "Webb-site.com" and limited to one paragraph at a time. For information on syndication or purchasing individual articles for print publication, contact us.

Can we link to Webb-site.com?

Yes, you may include a plain-text hyperlink to Webb-site.com, provided that your link either opens a new browser window or takes the viewer out of your site and makes Webb-site.com the "top" page in the current browser window. Any framing of our material is a violation of copyright.

Can we license your content for our site?

No. As a matter of policy, we believe there is no merit in licensing other web sites to carry our material when they can easily hyperlink their viewers to Webb-site.com. However, to facilitate such links, you are granted a license to include in your site the summary text from the grey box at the head of each article, subject to the following terms and conditions:

1. You must include a hyperlink immediately before or after the summary text to the relevant article on Webb-site.com. No framing is permitted, i.e. your hyperlink must link to a new browser window or the "top" page in the current browser.
2. You must advise us by e-mail that you are using this license.
3. The license may be revoked at any time in our sole discretion.
4. The text on your site must not imply any endorsement by Webb-site.com or parties associated with it.