Over the last three years, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) returned six applications for potential IPOs on the main board to their sponsors, effectively in each case freezing the listing process for at least eight weeks. The latest occurrence was in early June this year. read
The recent news that UBS was being investigated by Hong Kong’s SFC in connection with its work as IPO sponsor in the city has taken the local financial community by storm, not least because of the very real possibility that the firm may loose its corporate finance licence – at least for a period of time. read
As Hong Kong IPOs start to make a timid comeback after a long summer lull, I unearthed an interesting working paper entitled “IPO sponsors and prospectus liability: the bridge too far?”, published in August by the Asian Institute of International Financial Law (AIIFL) of the University of Hong Kong. read
Just as China’s domestic markets have finally started to open up through the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect scheme, heavily discounted H-share IPOs threaten to put a damper on the attractiveness of A-shares to international investors. read
A quick glance at the SGX’s website shows that only six new listings closed on the Main Board since the start of the year. read
The recent overhaul of Hong Kong’s IPO regime has arguably resulted in better quality issuers coming to market. read
Another week, another Hong Kong IPO with a silly number of bookrunners on the tombstone. read
I was interviewed by BBC News again, this time about the IPO of China Huishan Dairy Holdings, which at US$1.3 billion (pre Greenshoe) currently stands as the second largest IPO in Hong Kong in 2013, after that of Sinopec Engineering. The deal was also the largest consumer sector IPO in Asia since the flotation of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery (also in Hong Kong) in December 2011. read
A sponsor firm and its management are responsible for ensuring that staff undertaking sponsor work as Principals and Representatives are licensed and meet the sponsor guidelines. Under the new IPO sponsor regime coming into force on 1 October 2013, there are now three distinct routes through which staff working as Principals on IPO transactions where their firm has been appointed in the role of sponsor can be licensed. read
The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK) recently unveiled additional details of its new IPO sponsor regime, following the publication of consultation conclusions by the SFC on 12 December 2012. read
