HK Government proposes subsidiary law blocking media access to public information

 

Media Release: Hong Kong

January 16, 2013

 

The International Federation of Journalists joins its affiliate the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) in calling on the Government of Hong Kong to withdraw amendments to the Companies Ordinance which limits public access to information.

 

The IFJ learns that the Hong Kong Government is proposing subsidiary legislation which will restrict access to information contained in the company registries, severely hindering media investigations into crimes such as money laundering and the abuse of power.

 

Currently, personal information, including names, residential addresses and personal identification numbers of company directors are in the public domain. Access to company registries has enabled investigative journalists to unearth significant abuse of power and illegal activities such as the recent revelations about the Secretary for Development, Paul Chan Mo-Po’s involvement in a business which owns illegally subdivided flats, the purchase of apartments by Ding Shumiao – implicated in corruption charges made against Chinese Railways Minister Liu Zhijun – at a prestigious Henderson Land Development site, and the discovery made by foreign media about the huge sums of money held by the families of Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping and Premier Wen Jiabao .

 

Hong Kong has over one million private registered companies and is an international business centre. The media has been accessing company registries for many years without any complaints of misuse of information.

 

“Privacy cannot override the public’s right to access to information. The media must be allowed to fulfil its watch-dog function and duty to report within the public interest. ” IFJ Asia-Pacific office said.We urge Professor K.C. Chan, secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to withdraw the proposed amendment to the Companies Ordinance, to preserve freedom of information and the media’s ability to report in the public’s interest.”  

 

The HKJA has launched a campaign to stop amendments to the Companies Ordinance. We urge all journalists, journalists’ associations and unions to sign on to this campaign by emailing [email protected] or [email protected] before 22 January 2013 with the subject line “Stop amendments to the HK Companies Ordinance.”

 

For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +61 2 9333 0950 

 

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131 countries

 

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