Here is an excerpt from a New York Times report (emphasis mine),
A former Dow Jones & Company director [David K. P. Li] and three associates will pay more than $24 million to settle charges that the associates traded illegally on inside knowledge of the News Corporation’s takeover of Dow Jones, federal regulators announced on Tuesday.
David K. P. Li, a powerful financial and civic figure in Hong Kong who sat on the Dow Jones board, passed news of the offer to a friend on a flight last April from Hong Kong to Shanghai, 18 days before the takeover bid became public knowledge, the Securities and Exchange Commission asserted in a civil complaint.
[via WSJ Law Blog]
Mr. Li, "a powerful financial and civic figure in Hong Kong", currently sits on the Legislative Council of Hong Kong and the Executive Council. It seems the honourable and right thing for Mr. Li to do is to resign from both councils. If not, the HK government should face up to this problem and seek remedy to have Mr. Li removed from both Councils.
While technically there was no admission of any wrongdoing by the four involved but their payment of $24 million dollars to the US SEC was not small change even for the rich and powerful. It just seems the optics is really bad and a quick resign may be the best option left for Mr. Li. A protracted fight may make Mr. Li look worst in the eyes of the public.
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