THE STOCK EXCHANGE OF HONG KONG LIMITED
(A wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited)

Listing Rule Amendments

The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the Exchange), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx), announced today (Friday) amendments to its Listing Rules.

The Exchange has amended the Main Board Listing Rules and the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) Listing Rules (together, the Rules) as set out below.

Accounting issues and references

The Rules have been updated to reflect the current name of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA). Amendments have also been made to update accounting definitions and references. Key amendments include:

	in Main Board rule 1.01 and GEM rule 1.01 updating the definition of “Hong Kong Financial Reporting Standards” or “HKFRS”;
	in GEM rule 1.01 updating the definition of “affiliated company” to include associated and jointly controlled entities;
	in Main Board rule 3.24 and GEM rule 5.15 changing the reference to “Fellow or Associate Member” to “certified public accountant registered with the HKICPA”;
	in Main Board rule 4.03 and GEM rule 7.02 changing the reference to “professional accountants” to “certified public accountants”; and
	in note 9.4 to paragraph 9(1)(h) of Appendix 7C of the Main Board Rules changing the reference to “Hong Kong accounting standards” to “Hong Kong Financial Reporting Standards”.

Codifying and further liberalising the “no other relationship” exemption in FAQ 56

A new note 2 to Main Board rule 14A.11(4)(c) and to GEM rule 20.11(4)(c) to codify and further liberalise the no “other relationship” exemption as set out in Frequently Asked Question 56 (FAQ) on the HKEx website such that a substantial shareholder of a non wholly-owned subsidiary should also be permitted to act as a director of that subsidiary without it being treated as a connected person.

General waiver with respect to share lending arrangements

It is not uncommon for controlling shareholders to seek and be given waivers to enable them to enter into share lending arrangements that facilitate distribution of shares and the settlement of over-allocations in an initial public offering (IPO). A new Main Board rule 10.07(3) has been introduced, which codifies these waivers.

Reduction of SFC Transaction Levy

The Securities & Futures (Reduction of Levy) Order 2006, which came into operation on 1 December 2006, provides for a 20 per cent reduction of the levy payable in respect of any trading in securities, futures or options contracts.  Paragraph 5(2) of Appendix 8 of the Main Board Rules and paragraph 3(2) of Appendix 9 of the GEM Rules have been amended in a manner to reflect this change and to obviate the need to amend the Rules again as a result of any further rate changes.

The Rule amendments are set out on the HKEx website (www.hkex.com.hk) under the Regulatory Framework and Rules section.  They will become effective on 21 May 2007.