Geraldine Walsh, Washington, DC-based deputy director of the office of investor education and assistance at the US Securities and Exchange Commission, says corporate disclosure is key to investor education. Last week she completed a visit to Hong Kong and Shenzhen to talk about cooperation with local regulators, and today Monday is speaking at an investor education conference in Kuala Lumpur.
Looking at the market structure in China and Hong Kong, Walsh acknowledges that the experience of the United States has its limits as a model for Asia. For example, she notes most Chinese retail investors chase IPOs, while new issues are the exclusive purview of brokers and institutional investors in the...