Should Asians be financial leaders or followers?

HONG Kong this week celebrated the breaking of the Hang Seng Index 30,000 level, poised to break the peak of 31,958 set on Oct 30, 2007 that was the last hurrah before the global financial crisis.

Earlier last month, the US Treasury published the third of its reports on the US financial system, with the aim of unwinding much of the tough financial reforms enacted in the post-crisis decade on banking, capital markets and asset management and insurance.