Report on Initial Public Offering Applications, Delisting and Suspensions (As at 31 March 2014)

Market Operations

31 Mar 2014

Report on Initial Public Offering Applications, Delisting and Suspensions
(As at 31 March 2014)

					Main Board	GEM	Total
New Applications Accepted
	a.		March 2014
			(i)	Application(s) made by companies pursuant to Chapter 8 of the Main Board Listing Rules/Chapter 11 of the GEM Listing Rules	14	7	21
			(ii)	Application(s) made by investment vehicle(s) pursuant to Chapters 20 and 21 of the Main Board Listing Rules	0	N/A	0
			(iii)	Application(s) for transfer of listing from GEM to Main Board	2	N/A	2
			(iv)	Deemed new applicant(s) pursuant to Main Board Listing Rule 8.21C or Main Board Listing Rule 14.84, and very substantial acquisition(s) treated as reverse takeover(s) pursuant to Main Board Listing Rule 14.06(6)/GEM Listing Rule 19.06(6)	1 __________	0 __________	1 ________
			Sub-total		17	7	24
	b.		2014 Year-to-date
			(i)	Application(s) made by companies pursuant to Chapter 8 of the Main Board Listing Rules/Chapter 11 of the GEM Listing Rules	31	9	40
			(ii)	Application(s) made by investment vehicle(s) pursuant to Chapters 20 and 21 of the Main Board Listing Rules	4	N/A	4
			(iii)	Application(s) for transfer of listing from GEM to Main Board	2	N/A	2
			(iv)	Deemed new applicant(s) pursuant to Main Board Listing Rule 8.21C or Main Board Listing Rule 14.84, and very substantial acquisition(s) treated as reverse takeover(s) pursuant to Main Board Listing Rule 14.06(6)/GEM Listing Rule 19.06(6)	1 __________	0 __________	1 ________
			Sub-total		38	9	47
Approvals in principle granted⁽¹⁾
	a.	March 2014			5	0	5
	b.	2014 Year-to-date			21	1	22
Active applications⁽¹⁾ (as at 31 March 2014)
1.	Under processing (based on listing application form accepted):
	a.	New applications accepted since 1 January 2014			28	9	37
	b.	Others			2 __________	3 __________	5 ________
		Sub-total			30	12	42
2.	Approval in principle granted
	a.	Approvals granted since 1 January 2014			6	0	6
	b.	Others			2 __________	0 __________	2 _________
Total					38	12	50

Inactive applications⁽²⁾ (since 1 January 2014)
1.	Lapsed
	a.	Approval in principle granted but not listed prior to application lapsed		8	0	8
	b.	Others		14	6	20
2.	Rejected			0	1	1
3.	Withdrawn			1	1	2
4.	Returned⁽³⁾			2 __________	0 __________	2 __________
	Sub-total			25	8	33
5.	Renewals⁽⁴⁾			(4)	(1)	(5)
6.	Returned cases resubmitted⁽⁵⁾			(0) __________	(1) __________	(1) _________
Total				21	6	27
No. of new listings(since 1 January 2014)
		(i)	Companies listed pursuant to Chapter 8 of the Main Board Listing Rules/ Chapter 11 of the GEM Listing Rules	18	5	23
		(ii)	Investment vehicle(s) listed pursuant to Chapters 20 and 21 of the Main Board Listing Rules	3	N/A	3
		(iii)	Transfer of listing from GEM to Main Board	2	N/A	2
		(iv)	Deemed new listing(s) pursuant to Main Board Listing Rule 8.21C or Main Board Listing Rule 14.84, and very substantial acquisition(s) treated as reverse takeover(s) pursuant to Main Board Listing Rule 14.06(6)/GEM Listing Rule 19.06(6)	0 __________	0 __________	0 ________
Total				23	5	28

First Comment Letters Issued⁽⁶⁾
	a.	March 2014	12
	b.	Average number of days taken between the date of application and the date of issue of related first comment letter	10

Guidance issued to potential new listing applicants or their advisers on matters relating to the Listing Rules
	a.	March 2014	4
	b.	Average number of days taken between the date of request for guidance and the date of issue of written response⁽⁷⁾	7

⁽¹⁾	Includes application(s) by investment vehicle(s) pursuant to Chapters 20 and 21 of the Main Board Listing Rules, application(s) for transfer of listing from GEM to the Main Board, and deemed new applicant(s) pursuant to Main Board Listing Rule 8.21C or Main Board Listing Rule 14.84, and very substantial acquisition(s) treated as reverse takeover(s) pursuant to Main Board Listing Rule 14.06(6)/GEM Listing Rule 19.06(6).
⁽²⁾	Includes any application (or renewal) not approved, rejected or withdrawn within six months.
⁽³⁾	Applications accepted for vetting but subsequently returned on the ground that the information in the listing application proof or related documents is not substantially complete.
⁽⁴⁾	Includes all applications accepted within three months following a lapsed, rejected or withdrawn application by the same applicant.
⁽⁵⁾	Applications returned by the Exchange but were subsequently resubmitted after the 8-week moratorium from the date of the return letter.
⁽⁶⁾	First comment letters are the first letters issued by Listing Division staff that contain the Listing Division's comments on the respective listing applications. It only covers the first comment letters issued this month. For reports issued from January 2011 onwards, non-business days have been subtracted from "the average number of days taken". The figures exclude cases for a transfer of listing from GEM to the Main Board. If included, the number of first comment letters issued is 13 and the average number of days taken is 10.
⁽⁷⁾	Covers only the guidance letters issued this month. For the reports issued from January 2011 onwards, non-business days have been subtracted from "the average number of days taken".

Delisting and Suspension Information
(As at 31 March 2014)

			Main Board	GEM	Total
(a)	Number of delisted companies (since 1 January 2014)
	a.	Withdrawal of listing pursuant to privatisation	0	0	0
	b.	Transfer of listing from GEM to Main Board	N/A	2	2
	c.	Cancellation of listing pursuant to delisting procedures under the Listing Rules	0	0	0
	d.	Voluntary withdrawal of listing	0 __________	0 __________	0 __________
Total			0	2	2
(b)	Number of companies in suspension for three months or more (as at 31 March 2014)
	a.	Companies not in delisting procedures	29	6	35
	b.	Main Board companies in delisting procedures:

		- first stage of delisting⁽⁸⁾	1	N/A	1
		- second stage of delisting⁽⁹⁾	1	N/A	1
		- third stage of delisting⁽⁹⁾	4	N/A	4
	c.	GEM companies given 6 months’ notice for delisting	N/A	2	2
	d.	Resumption proposal approved in principle by the Exchange subject to fulfillment of conditions	1 ___________	0 ___________	1 ___________
Total			36	8	44

Other Information
(As at 31 March 2014)

		Main Board	GEM	Total
(c)	Number of listed companies (as at 31 March 2014)	1,471	195	1,666

⁽⁸⁾	Where the Exchange has issued a letter to the long-suspended company informing it of the commencement of the delisting procedures and that the Exchange will consider placing the company in the second stage of delisting if the company fails to submit a viable resumption proposal by the deadline set out in the letter.
⁽⁹⁾	Long-suspended Main Board companies having problems with sufficient operations or assets are placed in the second and third stages of delisting under Practice Note 17 to the Main Board Listing Rules.

This report is updated on the last trading day of each month.

Ends

Updated 29 Aug 2014