There is a new sheriff in Hong Kong. The Securities and Futures Commission, the territory’s market regulator, on Friday sealed a landmark victory after Richard Li confirmed that he would let a $2bn buy-out offer for PCCW, his telecommunications company, lapse.

The surrender by Mr Li, one of Hong Kong’s most prominent tycoons, and state-owned China Unicom, PCCW’s second largest shareholder, followed an unprecedented intervention by the regulator, which successfully challenged the validity of a February shareholders’ vote that approved the transaction.