Report on Initial Public Offering Applications, Delisting and Suspensions (As at 30 November 2017)

Market Operations

30 Nov 2017

Report on Initial Public Offering Applications, Delisting and Suspensions
(As at 30 November 2017)

					Main Board	GEM	Total
New Applications Accepted
	a.		November 2017
			(i)	Application(s) made by companies pursuant to Chapter 8 of the Main Board Listing Rules/Chapter 11 of the GEM Listing Rules	11	7	18
			(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	0	N/A	0
			(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					11	7	18
	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	128	118	246
			(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					179	118	297
Approvals in principle granted⁽¹⁾
	a.	November 2017			18	9	27
	b.	2017 Year-to-date			115	73	188
Active applications⁽¹⁾(as at 30 November 2017)
1.	Under processing
	a.	New applications accepted since 1 January 2017			89	68	157
	b.	Others			4 _________	5 _________	9 _________
		Sub-total			93	73	166
2.	Approval in principle granted
	a.	Approvals granted since 1 January 2017			21	11	32
	b.	Others			0 _________	0 _________	0 _________
Total					114	84	198

Inactive applications⁽²⁾ (since 1 January 2017)
1.	Lapsed
	a.	Approval in principle granted but not listed prior to application lapsed		16	14	30
	b.	Others		67	71	138
2.	Rejected			3	5	8
3.	Withdrawn			3	11	14
4.	Returned⁽³⁾			2 _________	0 _________	2 _________
	Total			91	101	192

5.	Renewals⁽⁴⁾			71	71	142
6.	Returned cases resubmitted⁽⁵⁾			0 _________	3 _________	3 _________
	Total			71	74	145
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	67	72	139
		(ii)	Investment vehicle(s) listed pursuant to Chapters 20 and 21 of the Main Board Listing Rules	21	N/A	21
		(iii)	Transfer of listing from GEM to Main Board	12	N/A	12
		(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				100	72	172

First Comment Letters Issued⁽⁶⁾
	a.	November 2017	22
	b.	Average number of days taken between the date of application and the date of issue of related first comment letter	27

Guidance issued to potential new listing applicants or their advisers on matters relating to the Listing Rules
	a.	November 2017	14
	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 23 and the average number of days taken is 27.
⁽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 November 2017)

			Main Board	GEM	Total
(a)	Number of delisted companies (since 1 January 2017)
	a.	Withdrawal of listing pursuant to privatisation	8	0	8
	b.	Transfer of listing from GEM to Main Board	N/A	12	12
	c.	Cancellation of listing pursuant to delisting procedures under the Listing Rules	3	2	5
	d.	Voluntary withdrawal of listing	2 _________	1 _________	3 _________
Total			13	15	28
(b)	Number of companies in suspension for three months or more (as at 30 November 2017)
	a.	Companies not in delisting procedures	29	1	30
	b.	Main Board companies in delisting procedures:
		- first stage of delisting⁽⁸⁾	3	N/A	3
		- second stage of delisting⁽⁹⁾	4	N/A	4
		- third stage of delisting⁽⁹⁾	13	N/A	13
		- others⁽¹⁰⁾	1	N/A	1
	c.	GEM companies given 6 months' notice for delisting	N/A	2	2
	d.	Delisting approved by the Listing Committee	3*	0	3
	e.	Resumption proposals approved in principle by the Exchange subject to fulfillment of conditions	0 _________	0 _________	0 _________
Total			53	3	56

Other Information
(As at 30 November 2017)

			Main Board	GEM	Total
(c)	Number of listed companies (as at 30 November 2017)		1,779	317	2,096

⁽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 30 Nov 2017