Late corporate governance activist David Webb showed why transparency benefits Hong Kong

On January 13, the British-born corporate governance activist David Webb, who had made Hong Kong his home for the past 35 years, died. Like many who have come from near and far after finding success, he did much to contribute to our society and its fabric. Many of our city’s landmarks bear the philanthropic imprint of such immigrants, from our universities to our hospitals.David was able to do some of the splendid work he did because of some of the characteristics of this city, which may not have many parallels in the Asia-Pacific region. As someone who loved Hong Kong, he was also concerned about its future direction amid fresh challenges from various quarters.What made possible the existence and magic of Webb-site.com, the database David established for public viewing, reflects some of the strengths of our city.He was able to obtain and collate much of the information from publicly available sources, even if he had to spend many hours extracting and then presenting it in a more user-friendly form.After he published his reports on suspected corporate wrongdoings, they could be publicly reported and, when they came to the attention of the Securities and Futures Commission or law enforcement agencies, action would be taken. It did not matter who was responsible; no one was above the law. This is the meaning of equality before the law.Ultimately, this resulted in better corporate governance, more efficient markets and a fairer society.