Calls for more oversight in HK after routs

Hong Kong

AFTER US$35 billion in market value was erased from three Hong Kong-listed companies over two days, investors are asking if the city's regulator should have done more to prevent the sudden sell-off.

Goldin Financial Holdings Ltd and Goldin Properties Holdings Ltd, controlled by billionaire Pan Sutong, plunged more than 40 per cent on Thursday. A day earlier, Hanergy Thin Film Power Group Ltd tumbled 47 per cent in 24 minutes before trading in the Chinese solar company's shares was suspended. The stocks, which had surged at least 500 per cent in the 12 months before the rout, can also be bought and sold by mainland investors through an exchange link.

The volatility illustrates the need for regulators to keep pace with the boom in China's stock markets. In Hong Kong, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the bourse operator share the task of trying to weed out stock manipulation while also encouraging the equity market to play a bigger r…