Report on Initial Public Offering Applications, Delisting and Suspensions (As at 31 August 2018)

Market Operations

31 Aug 2018

Report on Initial Public Offering Applications, Delisting and Suspensions
(As at 31 August 2018)

					Main Board	GEM	Total
New Applications Accepted
	a.		August 2018
			(i)	Application(s) made by companies pursuant to Chapter 8 of the Main Board Listing Rules/Chapter 11 of the GEM Listing Rules	25	7	32
			(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	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					29	7	36
	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	184	56	240
			(ii)	Application(s) made by investment vehicle(s) pursuant to Chapters 20 and 21 of the Main Board Listing Rules	10	N/A	10
			(iii)	Application(s) for transfer of listing from GEM to Main Board	16	N/A	16
			(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 _________	2 _________	5 _________
Total					213	58	271
Approvals in principle granted⁽¹⁾
	a.	August 2018			17	4	21
	b.	2018 Year-to-date			103	53	156
Active applications⁽¹⁾(as at 31 August 2018)
1.	Under processing
	a.	New applications accepted since 1 January 2018			146	49	195
	b.	Others			14 _________	5 _________	19 _________
		Sub-total			160	54	214
2.	Approval in principle granted
	a.	Approvals granted since 1 January 2018			20	5	25
	b.	Others			1 _________	0 _________	1 _________
Total					181	59	240

Inactive applications⁽²⁾ (since 1 January 2018)
1.	Lapsed
	a.	Approval in principle granted but not listed prior to application lapsed		20	19	39
	b.	Others		75	50	125
2.	Rejected			6	3	9
3.	Withdrawn			4	4	8
4.	Returned⁽³⁾			0 _________	0 _________	0 _________
	Total			105	76	181

5.	Renewals⁽⁴⁾			79	57	136
6.	Returned cases resubmitted⁽⁵⁾			0 _________	1 _________	1 _________
	Total			79	58	137
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	81	62	143
		(ii)	Investment vehicle(s) listed pursuant to Chapters 20 and 21 of the Main Board Listing Rules	8	N/A	8
		(iii)	Transfer of listing from GEM to Main Board	7	N/A	7
		(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)	1 _________	0 _________	1 _________
Total				97	62	159

First Comment Letters Issued⁽⁶⁾
	a.	August 2018	32
	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.	August 2018	23
	b.	Average number of days taken between the date of request for guidance and the date of issue of written response⁽⁷⁾	11

⁽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 35 and the average number of days taken is 22.
⁽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 August 2018)

			Main Board	GEM	Total
(a)	Number of delisted companies (since 1 January 2018)
	a.	Withdrawal of listing pursuant to privatisation	1	0	1
	b.	Transfer of listing from GEM to Main Board	N/A	7	7
	c.	Cancellation of listing pursuant to delisting procedures under the Listing Rules	2	0	2
	d.	Voluntary withdrawal of listing	5 _________	0 _________	5 _________
Total			8	7	15
(b)	Number of companies in suspension for three months or more (as at 31 August 2018)
	a.	Main Board companies in delisting procedures under Practice Note 17⁽⁸⁾	22	N/A	22
	b.	Companies given notice for delisting⁽⁹⁾	0	4	4
	c.	Other suspended companies⁽¹⁰⁾	39	6	45
	d.	Delisting approved by the Listing Committee	5* _________	0 _________	5 _________
Total			66	10	76

Other Information
(As at 31 August 2018)

			Main Board	GEM	Total
(c)	Number of listed companies (as at 31 August 2018)		1,874	379	2,253

⁽⁸⁾	Main Board companies that are placed in a three stage process of delisting under Practice Note 17 to the Main Board Listing Rules for failure to maintain sufficient operations or assets.
⁽⁹⁾	The Exchange has decided to commence procedures under Main Board Rule 6.10 or GEM Rule 9.15 to cancel the listing of companies on the grounds set out in Main Board Rule 6.01 or GEM Rule 9.14.
⁽¹⁰⁾	The Exchange may cancel the listing of companies if trading in their securities has remained suspended for 18 continuous months under Main Board Rule 6.01A or 12 continuous months under GEM Rule 9.14A. Depending on the specific facts and circumstances of a suspended company, the Exchange may at any time publish a delisting notice stating its right to delist the company if it fails to resume trading within a shorter period specified in the notice.

*	The companies have 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