Corporate Governance in China and Hong Kong : Reconciling Traditional Chinese Values, Regulatory Innovation and Accountability

Much has been said about the convergence of corporate governance and regulations. The underlying assumptions of this phenomenon are driven by globalisation and the dominance of the Anglo-US model of corporate governance. Since the Asian crisis in 1997, Hong Kong and perhaps to a less extend China, had amended both company laws and regulations, mirroring provisions and rules in developed Western economics. This paper will attempt to reconcile the east-west ideological divide about regulating corporate governance under a meta-regulatory framework. The aim is to combine laws and ethics thereby enhancing accountability and improving regulatory compliance by adapting Chinese ethical values like Confucianism into the regulatory system. Therefore, the overarching goal of this exercise is to adapt the wisdom of Chinese ethics into regulatory guidelines for Hong Kong and China’s rapidly growing economies