Dow Jones director may step back during investigation

The Telegraph newspaper in England is reporting that Hong Kong banker David Li, who sits on the Dow Jones & Co. board, may “step back” from board discussions at the owner of the Wall Street Journal while investigators look into insider trading allegations resulting from the News Corp. bid to acquire the company.

Mark Kleinman wrote, “David Li, the British-born and educated chairman of Bank of East Asia, one of Hong Kong’s largest quoted banks, may offer to absent himself from board discussions at Dow Jones during the ongoing Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, according to a number of people close to the situation.

“It is not clear whether such a move has yet been discussed or whether Mr Li will attend a Dow Jones board meeting scheduled for next week. Dow Jones last night denied reports which suggested that it was conducting an internal review of Mr Li’s connections to the people named in the SEC inquiry.

“Mr Li has served on the Dow Jones board since 1993 and is a member of the media company’s audit and corporate governance committees. He was understood to be in Hong Kong yesterday but did not respond to telephone calls seeking comment.”

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