Mr Leung Chun-ying
Chief Executive of the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region Hong Kong
People’s Republic of China

13 March 2013

Dear Mr Leung,

We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries, to express our serious concern at the proposed introduction of regulations that would restrict access to information about company directors.

Proposed changes to the Companies Ordinance will make it harder for the media to obtain the personal data of company directors in Hong Kong. Under the proposals, corporate directors will be able to apply to have their residential address and full identity card or passport number blocked from public view. The move follows recent reports by the New York Times, Bloomberg and others that have used such information to expose the wealth and assets of some of China’s ruling elite.

We are seriously concerned that the proposals will make it much more difficult for journalists to uncover covert directorships, money laundering and other corporate-based crimes and that, as such, they inhibit the investigative role of the press.

We respectfully call on you to halt the proposed changes to the Companies Ordinance so that journalists in Hong Kong can continue to have full access to corporate records.

We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Jacob Mathew
President
World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers

Erik Bjerager
President
World Editors Forum