More than 100 financial scholars, researchers, practitioners and policy makers gathered today at a China Securities Market and Valuation Conference to examine critical issues about the nation's capital markets, which play an increasingly important role in the global economy.
The one-day conference was organized by the Value Partners Center for Investing which is part of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology's School of Business and Management (HKUST Business School), in collaboration with the School's Department of Finance.
Presentation topics included stock valuation, insider trading, institutional trading, Index reconstitution effect, value investing, mergers and reverse mergers. Panel discussions included information disclosure, analysis of accounting practices and frauds, RMB internationalization, fund raising and IPO activities, wealth management, capital market and commodities market development in Hong Kong and China.
Professor Kalok Chan, Director of Value Partners Center for Investing, said, "While the increasing impact of China's securities markets on the global economy is clear, a comprehensive understanding of the underlying problems facing the markets and their future development is still lacking. These issues warrant further deliberation in both academic and investor communities."
"The Value Partners Center for Investing's mission is to support research and training on investing with emphasis on China and Hong Kong financial markets, and to promote Hong Kong's role as a regional asset management center. By organizing this one-day conference, we aim to promote more in-depth discussions on the key issues of China's fast expanding capital markets, to seek valuable insights on what drives the market's continuous expansion, and to explore the implications for the global economy," he added.
In his keynote address, Professor Charles Lee, Joseph McDonald Professor of Accounting at the Graduate School of Business of Stanford University, shared findings of his recent study which refuted the general perception that Chinese reverse mergers were "systemically riskier, or more problematic" compared with their US counterparts.
The study evaluated the initial financial health and subsequence performance of Chinese reverse mergers between 2001 and 2010. The study found that Chinese reverse mergers generally performed better than their US counterparts and a group of Exchange-Industry-Size-Date matched publicly-listed companies over three years of public trading. Professor Lee pointed out that the issues identified are more attributable to problems prevalent in the less liquid Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board (OTCBB) markets, rather than the issues specific to reserve mergers or China.
Professor Lee's keynote address was followed by a series of presentations and discussions led by academic researchers. In addition, the conference also featured two industry panel discussions in which representatives from market participants and regulatory authorities discussed various issues related to valuing Chinese companies. They also explored Hong Kong's roles in facilitating the development of China's securities markets.
More information about the Value Partners Center for Investing is available at http://vpcenter.ust.hk/index.html
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