A group of brokers and brokerage firms joined forces to voice their discontent over the campaign of some legislators to derail the listing of the Link Real Estate Investment Trust (the Link).

In full-page advertisements in several Chinese newspapers Tuesday and today, the group condemns legislator Albert "Taipan" Cheng and "his comrades", who had ignored the interests of 510,000 investors.

Their action is an attempt to compromise Hong Kong's international financial status and make the city a laughing stock in financial circles, the advertisement said.

"The Link's lawsuit is absolutely a ridiculous matter for Hong Kong," said Yuen Wan-keung, chairman of Luen Fat Securities Company Ltd and one of the initiators of the advertisement campaign.

He believes some politicians have deliberately pulled tricks to increase their media exposure and make a name for themselves. But it is Hong Kong and its reputation that are paying the price.

"The incident has already caused many small investors and brokerage firms to suffer losses," he said. "The Link's Initial Public Offering (IPO) is definitely good for Hong Kong because it stimulates transactions in the stock market, which in turn boost market sentiment and further drive up economic growth.

"If Hong Kong became over-politicized, it would only scare away foreign investors and affect the SAR's international credit rating," Yuen said.

He said the campaign has been backed by more than 50 individual brokers and brokerage firms.

The advertisement expresses the hope that Hong Kong's judicial system will maintain its independence and will not be abused.

It also calls on Hong Kong people to unite and strive for stable economic development.

Also Tuesday, Sunny Poon, an accountant who subscribed for shares in the Link, placed an open letter in newspapers that urges institutions, professionals and individuals to form an alliance and fight back for their rights and claim compensation for their losses caused by the failure of the listing.

Financial Services sector lawmaker Chim Pui-chung echoed the message of the advertisement.

"The legal challenge to the listing of the Link is absolutely a joke to Hong Kong's financial industry and it would affect any future government plans to sell off public assets," he said.

Responding to the criticisms, Cheng said he respects people's rights to express their opinions, including the group who placed the advertisement.

Meanwhile, a Housing Authority (HA) source said Tuesday the authority would seek to amend the Housing Ordinance in the Legislative Council if it, in the worse case scenario, loses the Link lawsuit in the Court of Final Appeal.

The litigation was initiated by two public housing tenants, Lo Siu-lang and Ma Ki-chiu, who applied for a judicial review to forbid the HA from selling its 180 shopping malls and nearly 79,000 car parking spaces.

Both the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal rejected the application.

Lo has a 28-day period to appeal against that ruling at the Court of Final Appeal. The period started last Friday.

Since Lo will not say if she will lodge a final appeal, the HA was forced to shelve the listing originally scheduled on Monday.

If Lo does not make the appeal to the supreme court, the HA will go ahead with the listing after a three-month period of judicial review ends.

This would mean the earliest possible date for the IPO would be February 25.

The government may need to pay an extra HK$100 million for the fees to re-assess the value of the Link and re-print the prospectus.

The source said the HA will not ask the Court of Final Appeal to make a final ruling on the legitimacy of the Link's listing.

(China Daily HK Edition December 22, 2004)