Asian stock market regulators 1, cheats 0. Yesterday the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission won a court order for Hontex to repay its listing proceeds to minority shareholders. The Chinese textiles group was accused of making false and misleading statements in the build-up to its 2009 initial public offering. This is a breakthrough for Hong Kong investors. About time: a raft of corporate governance scandals has crushed enthusiasm for Chinese-listed companies in recent months.

The message from Hong Kong is growing louder – listed companies, wherever domiciled, must not mislead investors. The ruling marks its first direct hit on an offshore member (Hontex is incorporated in the Cayman Islands). The regulator has already cracked down on IPO sponsors. Mega Capital Asia, Hontex’s broker, was fined in April and banned from IPO sponsorship for its role in bringing the textiles group to market.

Given Hong Kong’s dominant position in regional capital raisings, governance should top the agenda. The boom in Chinese company listings in particular has been accompanied by sloppy due diligence. Disparities in Chinese accounting methods have not helped. Most of the Hong Kong exchange’s 50-odd suspended companies are Chinese. Recent additions include clothes retailer Boshiwa and paper recycler Fook Woo, which failed to file their audited accounts on time.