Weaker shareholder rights may prove ominous for Hong Kong

DEMOCRACY has had a bad few days in Hong Kong. First the former British colony shelved its pledge to grant citizens universal suffrage. Now, the Hong Kong stock exchange is getting ready to ditch its long-held principle that shares should carry equal votes.

Exchange officials hope the shift, inspired by the loss of Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba's giant initial public offering to New York last year, will attract more fast-growing companies.

Many large fund managers are sceptical: BlackRock, Fidelity and Aberdeen Asset Management all rejected any change to the status quo.