David Webb, an independent stock analyst suffering from terminal cancer, shared his financial career and life experiences at a foreign correspondent club event in Hong Kong yesterday (May 12th), attracting over 200 attendees. Notable among them was former legislative council member, Claudia Mo, recently released after being sentenced in the pro-democracy primary election case. Her husband, Philip Bowring, served as the moderator for the discussion.
David Webb, Vice Chairman of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission’s Takeovers and Mergers Panel, former non-executive director of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and stock market commentator, recounted his experiences and connection to Hong Kong. Originally dispatched to work in Hong Kong in 1991 for just two years, he fell in love with the city and ended up staying. He later worked for a local Hong Kong-based company. In 1998, feeling he had earned enough money, he decided to pursue his own endeavors, unafraid to ruffle feathers. He was elected to the board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2003 and subsequently helped Lurene Hui become a board member.
According to Webb, Hong Kong’s success lies in its laissez-faire economic model, although he expressed regret that the city has deviated from this system. Since the post-World War II period, Hong Kong has embraced a policy of small government, with duties to ensure education, healthcare, and establish a social welfare safety net for its people. Webb believes that if money was not wasted on unworthy causes, Hong Kong could achieve much more.
He pointed out that Hong Kong’s uniqueness lies in its differentiation from mainland China, yet Hong Kong is moving towards a system closer to the planned economy of the CCP. Webb also raised concerns about whether the Basic Law will persist after 2047, questioning what law legal students should study post-2047, Hong Kong law or mainland Chinese law. These are thought-provoking issues.
Moreover, Webb criticized the Hong Kong government for squandering reserves, such as during the pandemic when they distributed money, like subsidies to supermarkets to retain employees when the supermarkets were doing well at the time. He mentioned that people like himself do not need consumer vouchers. Webb also touched on the Dual-fare concession scheme, stating that the government regrets its implementation, especially after lowering the age limit, costing 5 billion Hong Kong dollars annually. He joked that if he is fortunate, he will celebrate his 60th birthday on August 29th and can apply for the Elder Octopus Card.
Emphasizing the need to reduce unnecessary expenditures, Webb suggested that the government should exempt stamp duty and highlighted the lack of a collective litigation system in Hong Kong to protect consumers. He believes that the greater the market’s protection for investors, the more willing they are to invest, making the stock market more attractive to more companies.
Webb further noted that the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has scrapped the quarterly reporting requirement for GEM companies and abandoned discussing this issue on the main board, while the mainland had mandated all listed companies to disclose quarterly reports years ago. He remarked, “They are ahead of us in this aspect. How terrible is that? We should be China’s financial center, but they are leading us in certain aspects of information disclosure.”
Although Webb initially planned to shut down his database website, Webb-site, after his passing, he decided to publicly backup the data. He mentioned wanting the University of Hong Kong to take over the site, but under the National Security Law, they were not interested. He hopes for greater transparency in Hong Kong’s public data in the future.
Regarding the linked exchange rate system between the Hong Kong dollar and the US dollar, Webb believes it will continue to exist because governments are averse to change, and the system has been functioning well, though there is room for improvement, such as fixing the rate at 7.8 rather than allowing fluctuation.
As for the “Greater Bay Area” concept, Webb bluntly called it a “new wine in an old bottle,” referring to it as the Greater Pearl River Delta, indicating that this concept has always existed. He explained that in the 1980s, with the mainland’s economic opening up, Hong Kong factories moved north, with the remaining local companies mainly specializing in design, sales, and marketing, while manufacturing happened in the mainland. The “Greater Bay Area” just describes what Hong Kong has been doing all along.
Discussing the issue of CK Hutchison selling the Panama ports, Webb viewed it as a free market transaction, with CK having the freedom to sell ports, but the CCP turned the transaction into a matter related to national security. He believes that there is no need to politicize such transactions. Webb noted that this to some extent validates former President Trump’s view that China controls the Panama Canal.
On a personal note, David Webb expressed his current desire to spend time with his wife and children, expressing gratitude for his wife’s continual support, never leaving his side even after his cancer diagnosis. He also expressed a wish to travel with his family if his health permits.