Report on Initial Public Offering Applications, Delisting and Suspensions (As at 29 September 2017)

Market Operations

29 Sep 2017

Report on Initial Public Offering Applications, Delisting and Suspensions
(As at 29 September 2017)

					Main Board	GEM	Total
New Applications Accepted
	a.		September 2017
			(i)	Application(s) made by companies pursuant to Chapter 8 of the Main Board Listing Rules/Chapter 11 of the GEM Listing Rules	18	18	36
			(ii)	Application(s) made by investment vehicle(s) pursuant to Chapters 20 and 21 of the Main Board Listing Rules	2	N/A	2
			(iii)	Application(s) for transfer of listing from GEM to Main Board	3	N/A	3
			(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					23	18	41
	b.		2017 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	109	106	215
			(ii)	Application(s) made by investment vehicle(s) pursuant to Chapters 20 and 21 of the Main Board Listing Rules	22	N/A	22
			(iii)	Application(s) for transfer of listing from GEM to Main Board	22	N/A	22
			(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)	7 _________	0 _________	7 _________
Total					160	106	266
Approvals in principle granted⁽¹⁾
	a.	September 2017			11	10	21
	b.	2017 Year-to-date			80	57	137
Active applications⁽¹⁾(as at 29 September 2017)
1.	Under processing
	a.	New applications accepted since 1 January 2017			106	79	185
	b.	Others			9 _________	9 _________	18 _________
		Sub-total			115	88	203
2.	Approval in principle granted
	a.	Approvals granted since 1 January 2017			10	11	21
	b.	Others			0 _________	0 _________	0 _________
Total					125	99	224

Inactive applications⁽²⁾ (since 1 January 2017)
1.	Lapsed
	a.	Approval in principle granted but not listed prior to application lapsed		10	11	21
	b.	Others		48	51	99
2.	Rejected			2	4	6
3.	Withdrawn			3	7	10
4.	Returned⁽³⁾			1 _________	0 _________	1 _________
	Total			64	73	137

5.	Renewals⁽⁴⁾			52	53	105
6.	Returned cases resubmitted⁽⁵⁾			0 _________	3 _________	3 _________
	Total			52	56	108
No. of new listings (since 1 January 2017)
		(i)	Companies listed pursuant to Chapter 8 of the Main Board Listing Rules/ Chapter 11 of the GEM Listing Rules	51	55	106
		(ii)	Investment vehicle(s) listed pursuant to Chapters 20 and 21 of the Main Board Listing Rules	19	N/A	19
		(iii)	Transfer of listing from GEM to Main Board	8	N/A	8
		(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				78	55	133

First Comment Letters Issued⁽⁶⁾
	a.	September 2017	25
	b.	Average number of days taken between the date of application and the date of issue of related first comment letter	22

Guidance issued to potential new listing applicants or their advisers on matters relating to the Listing Rules
	a.	September 2017	12
	b.	Average number of days taken between the date of request for guidance and the date of issue of written response⁽⁷⁾	8

⁽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. If included, the number of first comment letters issued is 28 and the average number of days taken is 23.
⁽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 29 September 2017)

			Main Board	GEM	Total
(a)	Number of delisted companies (since 1 January 2017)
	a.	Withdrawal of listing pursuant to privatisation	4	0	4
	b.	Transfer of listing from GEM to Main Board	N/A	8	8
	c.	Cancellation of listing pursuant to delisting procedures under the Listing Rules	1	2	3
	d.	Voluntary withdrawal of listing	2 _________	1 _________	3 _________
Total			7	11	18
(b)	Number of companies in suspension for three months or more (as at 29 September 2017)
	a.	Companies not in delisting procedures	33	1	34
	b.	Main Board companies in delisting procedures:
		- first stage of delisting⁽⁸⁾	4	N/A	4
		- second stage of delisting⁽⁹⁾	2	N/A	2
		- third stage of delisting⁽⁹⁾	13	N/A	13
	c.	GEM companies given 6 months' notice for delisting	N/A	2	2
	d.	Delisting approved by the Listing Committee	4*	0	4
	e.	Resumption proposals approved in principle by the Exchange subject to fulfillment of conditions	1 _________	0 _________	1 _________
Total			57	3	60

Other Information
(As at 29 September 2017)

			Main Board	GEM	Total
(c)	Number of listed companies (as at 29 September 2017)		1,765	304	2,069

⁽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.

*	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 29 Sep 2017