As the loss-making Chinese maker of smartphones Xiaomi announced what could be a $10bn flotation under the new listing regime in Hong Kong (also making it the largest one in the city for the last four years), the exchange recently published updated guidance on the suitability for listing of IPO applicants. read
Last month, in the wake of the appointment of Hong Kong’s new leader, the city’s securities regulator, the Securities & Futures Commission, issued a statement on the listing of infrastructure project companies, particularly in relation to the Belt and Road initiative. read
On July 27, the HKEx announced that “it was minded to exercise its power” to cancel the listing of China Oriental Group within a period of six months, due to the company’s insufficient public float. This, however, was only the latest step in a rather long saga, which illustrates to a tee not only that the exchange’s minimum free float rule actually serves little purpose, but also how incredibly slowly the regulators can move to make decisions in the city, thereby hurting both institutional and retail investors. read
HONG KONG (Dow Jones Banking Intelligence)— Singapore Exchange Ltd (the SGX) has just introduced a new set of rules for admission to listing on its main board. This makes perfect sense and also addresses one of the exchange’s key weaknesses: a lack of liquidity caused by the presence of too many smaller, and lower quality, issuers. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) should take notice. read
