Report on Initial Public Offering Applications, Delisting and Suspensions (As at 30 April 2018)

Market Operations

30 Apr 2018

Report on Initial Public Offering Applications, Delisting and Suspensions
(As at 30 April 2018)

					Main Board	GEM	Total
New Applications Accepted
	a.		April 2018
			(i)	Application(s) made by companies pursuant to Chapter 8 of the Main Board Listing Rules/Chapter 11 of the GEM Listing Rules	27	3	30
			(ii)	Application(s) made by investment vehicle(s) pursuant to Chapters 20 and 21 of the Main Board Listing Rules	1	N/A	1
			(iii)	Application(s) for transfer of listing from GEM to Main Board	1	N/A	1
			(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)	0 ________	0 ________	0 ________
Total					29	3	32
	b.		2018 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	67	23	90
			(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	8	N/A	8
			(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)	3 _________	0 _________	3 _________
Total					82	23	105
Approvals in principle granted⁽¹⁾
	a.	April 2018			9	5	14
	b.	2018 Year-to-date			36	30	66
Active applications⁽¹⁾(as at 30 April 2018)
1.	Under processing
	a.	New applications accepted since 1 January 2018			77	23	100
	b.	Others			34 _________	26 _________	60 _________
		Sub-total			111	49	160
2.	Approval in principle granted
	a.	Approvals granted since 1 January 2018			10	8	18
	b.	Others			2 _________	0 _________	2 _________
Total					123	57	180

Inactive applications⁽²⁾ (since 1 January 2018)
1.	Lapsed
	a.	Approval in principle granted but not listed prior to application lapsed		11	15	26
	b.	Others		45	28	73
2.	Rejected			1	0	1
3.	Withdrawn			1	4	5
4.	Returned⁽³⁾			0 _________	0 _________	0 _________
	Total			58	47	105

5.	Renewals⁽⁴⁾			48	38	86
6.	Returned cases resubmitted⁽⁵⁾			0 _________	1 _________	1 _________
	Total			48	39	87
No. of new listings (since 1 January 2018)
		(i)	Companies listed pursuant to Chapter 8 of the Main Board Listing Rules/ Chapter 11 of the GEM Listing Rules	33	39	72
		(ii)	Investment vehicle(s) listed pursuant to Chapters 20 and 21 of the Main Board Listing Rules	2	N/A	2
		(iii)	Transfer of listing from GEM to Main Board	5	N/A	5
		(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				40	39	79

First Comment Letters Issued⁽⁶⁾
	a.	April 2018	37
	b.	Average number of days taken between the date of application and the date of issue of related first comment letter	12

Guidance issued to potential new listing applicants or their advisers on matters relating to the Listing Rules
	a.	April 2018	22
	b.	Average number of days taken between the date of request for guidance and the date of issue of written response⁽⁷⁾	10

⁽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, returned, rejected or withdrawn within six months from date of application.
⁽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 resubmitted to the Exchange after an 8-week moratorium from the date of the return letter.
⁽⁶⁾	First comment letters are the first letters issued by Listing Department staff that contain the 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.
⁽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 30 April 2018)

			Main Board	GEM	Total
(a)	Number of delisted companies (since 1 January 2018)
	a.	Withdrawal of listing pursuant to privatisation	0	0	0
	b.	Transfer of listing from GEM to Main Board	N/A	5	5
	c.	Cancellation of listing pursuant to delisting procedures under the Listing Rules	0	0	0
	d.	Voluntary withdrawal of listing	4 _________	0 _________	4 _________
Total			4	5	9
(b)	Number of companies in suspension for three months or more (as at 30 April 2018)
	a.	Companies not in delisting procedures	33	3	36
	b.	Main Board companies in delisting procedures:
		- first stage of delisting⁽⁸⁾	4	N/A	4
		- second stage of delisting⁽⁹⁾	4	N/A	4
		- third stage of delisting⁽⁹⁾	13	N/A	13
		- others⁽¹⁰⁾	0	N/A	0
	c.	GEM companies given 6 months' notice for delisting	N/A	2	2
	d.	Delisting approved by the Listing Committee	5*	0	5
	e.	Resumption proposals approved in principle by the Exchange subject to fulfillment of conditions	1 _________	0 _________	1 _________
Total			60	5	65

Other Information
(As at 30 April 2018)

			Main Board	GEM	Total
(c)	Number of listed companies (as at 30 April 2018)		1,828	358	2,186

⁽⁸⁾	Where the Exchange has issued a letter to the long-suspended company informing it of the commencement of the delisting procedures under Practice Note 17 to the Main Board Listing Rules 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.
⁽¹⁰⁾	The Exchange has decided to commence procedures under Rule 6.01(4) to cancel the listing of companies on the ground that they are no longer suitable for listing.

*	The companies applied to the Exchange to review the delisting decisions. The review procedures are in progress.

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

Ends

Updated 22 May 2020