On November 30, 2011, ACGA gave our third lecture at the Law Faculty, Hong Kong University, on the factors driving and impeding shareholder activism in Asia. Our presentation expanded upon previous presentations (in November 2004 and 2005) by describing the evolution of shareholder activism in Western markets--a shift from company focussed activism to broader, market-directed notions of "responsible investment", and from hard-edged "activism" to more socially acceptable "engagement". We then provided a history of shareholder activism in Asia, which we believe can be divided into three phases between the late 1990s and 2011, and did country cases studies on India, Japan and Korea. Our conclusion was that while the catalysts for activism would remain strong in the region, so too would the constraints.