At the time, the ministry defended its support for the Koo family by saying that the Koos had agreed to raise their shareholding in China Development to between 15 percent and 20 percent in two years.
Yang said that without a legal leg to stand on, the government had its hands tied when dealing with an uncooperative Koo family.
"As the government has decided to gradually withdraw from the banking sector, it should allow market mechanisms do their job and stop interfering. Corporate performance should be the yardstick," she said.
Last September, the ministry detailed its plans for offloading public shareholdings in financial institutions. China Development is one of five entities in which the government does not control more than half of the board seats and, as such, the ministry plans to dispose of its shares in the firm once the largest private shareholder has met certain criteria.
Yang said the government's dealings with China Development had been far from clear-cut and argued that private management was often far more efficient.
Sean Chen (
The government should also not seek to control the management of a firm unless the company was having trouble locating people of the right calibre, Sean Chen said during a recent forum.
"Financial institutions should not have any operating constraints other than the principles of corporate management," he said.
RSS