ACGA's advocacy efforts began in Hong Kong in May 2004 and focussed on the issue of the "General Mandate". This allowed listed companies to issue up to 20% of new shares on a non pre-emptive basis to a select group of investors and at a discount of up to 20%, thus diluting other shareholders.

Since then, Hong Kong has been one of our most important markets for advocacy work. We have made submissions ranging from amendments to HKEx Listing Rules and its CG Code, to ESG reporting, IPO sponsor due diligence and the SFC's stewardship code for institutional investors. We have also undertaken original research, such as our report on "non-standard shareholding structures" (ie, dual-class shares and special partnership arrangements) in 2014. This was based on a survey of ACGA members and found that allowing dual-class structures in Hong Kong would lead to an entrenched market discount.

ACGA has also given numerous presentations in Hong Kong as part of our advocacy and educational efforts. Please note, however, that many of these have a regional focus and hence are categorised under "Asia Region" in the Advocacy pages of our website.