Shuli Ren, Columnist

Coronavirus Gives China Inc. Cover to Behave Badly

Now there’s an excuse to flout good governance practices.

April 19, 2020 at 10:30 PM UTC

Shuli Ren is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Asian markets. A former investment banker, she was a markets reporter for Barron’s. She is a CFA charterholder.

Nuh-uh.
Photographer: Nina Leen/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images

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The coronavirus may have upended life as we know it, but one thing hasn’t changed: Companies looking to flout good governance practices will find a way. Now they have the perfect cover — and once again, China is leading the way.

While online investor meetings are becoming standard, HNA Group Co. took the practice to the extreme last week. On Tuesday, the disgraced airline-to-insurance giant hastily called a meeting for an onshore 390 million yuan bond ($55.1 million) due the next day, asking for an emergency one-year extension at 6:30 p.m. — prime time for family dinner — and telling participants they must submit documents within 30 minutes to qualify for e-voting. All votes had to be in by 9:30 p.m., the company instructed by email.