Biography
Paul Smith, CFA, is the founder of SustainFinance and the former president and CEO of CFA Institute. He has more than 25 years of relevant financial services leadership experience in many aspects of the investment management industry.
CFA Institute will need to take the lead in setting the right tone and example for investment industry colleagues and competitors.
We have reached that inevitable point where we have to decide which is more important: the interests of our clients or our own narrow self-interests.
If the investor profile of Asia’s equity markets stays the same, it will hinder the development of Asia’s capital markets, and consequently, inhibit economic growth.
Alibaba’s controversial IPO underscores how far away Asia still is in setting best practices for investor protection and of the need for a deeper examination of the corporate governance culture there.
If you can’t make it in China, try Southeast Asia. This seems to be the mantra among international banks and financial firms that want a foothold in Asia’s most coveted market but are turned off by regulatory requirements or stiff competition.
Hong Kong’s financial services industry is one of the pillars of the city’s economy, and the industry’s continued competitiveness and sustainability matter greatly not only to Hong Kong’s reputation as a global financial center but, more importantly, to the livelihoods of its 8 million residents.
For a long time, Western governments have led global policy making. But Asia — now home to two of the world’s top five largest economies — cannot downplay its crucial role in building sensible rules and regulations, as well as enforcement actions that take into account the realities of emerging markets.
Over the past couple of years, short seller Muddy Waters LLC and similar research firms have broken out from obscurity by exposing alleged fraud and false accounting in companies like Sino-Forest, Focus Media Holding, Orient Paper, China MediaExpress, and others.