By Anne Marie Roantree and Umesh Desai
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Missing executives, bribery probes, workers suspected of pilfering company documents - not the plot for a thriller, just regular reading for a Hong Kong stock trader.
Puzzling company statements that would raise eyebrows in most financial centres have become increasingly common in Hong Kong, underlining the challenges faced by the city's exchange in enforcing strong corporate governance standards at Chinese companies.
China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Ltd <1848.HK> became the latest mainland company to startle investors when it said on June 19 that it was unable to contact its chief executive, Poon Ho Man, who had resigned without explanation. Its shares slid nearly 20 percent.
In a separate statement released two minutes later, Asia's only listed aircraft lessor said its chief financial officer, Yu Tai Tei, had quit four weeks earlier "to pursue other personal goals". It told Reuters the delay in announcing his departure was to allow time to work out a transition plan.
Yu told Reuters the delay was because the company was trying to persuade him to remain. Poon did not respond to two email requests for comment.
Such statements highlight the clash between sometimes opaque corporate governance at mainland Chinese companies and the transparency demands of a developed financial centre.
"What it underlines is the continued challenges of operating an offshore market to China," said shareholder activist David Webb.
Hong Kong's rating for "corporate governance culture" fell to 51 points out of 100 in an Asian Corporate Governance Association 2014 report, down from 53 in 2012, putting it level with Thailand and behind Singapore and Japan.
Hong Kong Exchange did not respond to a request for comment on whether it was monitoring an increase on disclosures about missing or misbehaving executives.
COMMON OCCURRENCE
Chinese companies are no stranger to executives going missing or allegations of shady dealings, but such events have garnered closer attention recently as it becomes easier for foreign institutional investors to put money into Chinese stocks.
In 2014, DBA Telecom <3335.HK> issued a statement saying it had delayed its results announcement as it suspected former employees had run off with corporate documents. Shares in the company have been suspended since June 2013 at its request due to a delay in reporting financial results.
DBA did not respond to a request for comment.
On July 21 last year, shares of menswear maker Fujian Nuoqi <1353.HK> fell 33 percent with no obvious reason. Four days later, it revealed its chairman, Ding Hui, was missing amid media reports he had run up debts. Shares in Nuoqi, which has a market value of $78 million, remain suspended.
A court-designated manager of Fujian Nuoqi told Reuters Chinese authorities' efforts to recover debts from Ding had been unsuccessful. The company said it had no contact details for Ding and Reuters could not reach him independently.
This year larger, more well-known companies have been issuing statements about their executives being under investigation, often in relation to Chinese President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign.
In March, China's top oil and gas producer PetroChina (HK:0857) said its vice chairman, Liao Yongyuan, had resigned after the company announced he was being investigated by the country's anti-graft watchdog for "serious disciplinary violations".
On June 15 China's Communist Party said Liao had been expelled and was to be prosecuted for crimes including bribery. PetroChina's spokesman told Reuters the company has no further information on Liao's investigation. Liao could not be reached for comment.
Opaque statements are expected to continue in tandem with China's anti-graft drive, bringing more interesting reading for stock traders.
Some investors believe they may ultimately cause corporate governance to improve, as probes weed out miscreant executives and negative publicity forces companies to raise their standards.
"Our assessment is that the anti-corruption probes are set to widen ... and in the long run, these probes will improve company finances and transparency Danny Bao, managing director of HJY Capital Advisors in Hong Kong.