Because they represent a genuine threat. In Hong Kong, David Webb, an activist who's a former investment banker, uses his financial skills to uncover the unsavory practices of Hong Kong companies. Webb urged shareholders in the subsidiary not to let the deal happen. Seven months ago his site had 4,000 subscribers to its free e-mail newsletter. Now it has 6,000 and is growing by 100 subscribers a week.
Shareholder activism is on the rise in Taiwan, too.
Shareholders with a grievance can submit it to the agency, which in turn will investigate the case. Koji Morioka teaches economics at Kansai University in Osaka. Since 1996 Morioka's group has brought 22 cases to court, winning 7 and settling many others. Beneficial to Asia's growing class of individual shareholders, the region's shareholders-rights movement also has macroeconomic ramifications. One of the biggest costs of the lack of proper governance is its drag on the efficient working of capital markets, which chokes off opportunities for entrepreneurs and companies to raise capital for legitimate business reasons.