Exchange to Require Fewer Hard Copies of Issuer Documents

Regulatory

01 Aug 2008

THE STOCK EXCHANGE OF HONG KONG LIMITED
(A wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited)

Exchange to Require Fewer Hard Copies of Issuer Documents

The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the Exchange), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx), has amended its rules to reduce the number of hard copies of documents which issuers are required to provide to the Exchange from 1 September this year.

Drafts of the amendments were included in the Exchange’s Combined Consultation Paper on Proposed Changes to the Main Board Listing Rules and the Growth Enterprise Market Listing Rules (together, the Listing Rules) published in January this year for public exposure to solicit comments on whether the wording of the drafts might result in ambiguities or unintended consequences. The consultation period ended on 7 April.

The amendments are the same as the draft amendments in the Combined Consultation Paper, with the exception of the following:

1.	a further reduction in the hard copies of documents which issuers are required to provide to the Exchange under the Listing Rules, which resulted from Exchange’s ongoing review of its internal working procedures and hard copy requirements now that issuers’ regulatory documents must be posted on the HKEx website; and

2.	minor drafting changes, including those to address comments received from respondents.

The requirements from 1 September are summarised in table below.

Document	Hard copies required to be provided to the Exchange
Listed issuer’s announcement or notice	Nil
New applicant’s announcement or notice	1
Listed issuer’s certified copy of a resolution	Nil (unless specifically requested)
New applicant’s certified copy of a resolution	1
Listed equity issuer’s circular or listing document (including application form)	Nil
Listed equity issuer’s financial report	1
IPO listing document (including application form) pursuant to Main Board Listing Rule 9.14 or 20.16 and GEM Listing Rule 12.24	4 (in addition to copies submitted for registration as a prospectus under the Companies Ordinance)

“In keeping with the spirit of these amendments we encourage early adoption of the new hard copy requirements,” HKEx's Head of Listing, Richard Williams, said.

The amendments can be viewed on the HKEx website under “Listing Rule Update for Main Board Listing Rules” and “Listing Rule Update/Interpretation for GEM Listing Rules” in the “Regulatory Framework and Rules” section.

Updated 01 Aug 2008