Report on Initial Public Offering Applications, Delisting and Suspensions (As at 30 September 2009)

Market Operations

30 Sep 2009

Report on Initial Public Offering Applications, Delisting and Suspensions
(As at 30 September 2009)

					Main Board	GEM	Total
New Applications Accepted
	a.		September 2009
			(i)	Application(s) made by companies pursuant to Chapter 8 of the Main Board Listing Rules/ Chapter 11 of the GEM Listing Rules	14	2	16
			(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 ________
			Sub-total		14	2	16
	b.		2009 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	62	6	68
			(ii)	Application(s) made by investment vehicle(s) pursuant to Chapters 20 and 21 of the Main Board Listing Rules	13	N/A	13
			(iii)	Application(s) for transfer of listing from GEM to Main Board	4	N/A	4
			(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 ________
			Sub-total		79	6	85
Approvals in principle granted⁽¹⁾
	a.	September 2009			15	2	17
	b.	2009 Year-to-date			57	4	61
Active applications⁽¹⁾ (as at 30 September 2009)
1.	Under processing (based on listing application form accepted):
	a.	New applications accepted since 1 January 2009			29	3	32
	b.	Others			0 __________	0 __________	0 ________
		Sub-total			29	3	32
2.	Approval in principle granted
	a.	Approvals granted since 1 January 2009			17	2	19
	b.	Others			2	0	2
Total					48	5	53

Inactive applications⁽²⁾ (since 1 January 2009)
1.	Lapsed
	a.	Approval in principle granted but not listed prior to application lapsed		25	1	26
	b.	Others		23	1	24
2.	Rejected			0	0	0
3.	Withdrawn			3 __________	0 __________	3 ________
	Sub-total			51	2	53
4.	Renewals⁽³⁾			(16)	(1)	(17)
Total				35	1	36
No. of new listings(since 1 January 2009)
		(i)	Companies listed pursuant to Chapter 8 of the Main Board Listing Rules/Chapter 11 of the GEM Listing Rules	27	2	29
		(ii)	Investment vehicle(s) listed pursuant to Chapters 20 and 21 of the Main Board Listing Rules	13	N/A	13
		(iii)	Transfer of listing from GEM to Main Board	4	N/A	4
		(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		45	2	47

First Comment Letters Issued⁽⁴⁾
	a.	September 2009	20
	b.	Average number of days taken between the date of application and the date of issue of related first comment letter⁽⁵⁾	19

Guidance issued to potential new listing applicants or their advisers on matters relating to the Listing Rules
	a.	September 2009	7
	b.	Average number of days taken between the date of request for guidance and the date of issue of written response⁽⁵⁾	7

⁽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, rejected or withdrawn within six months.
⁽³⁾	Includes all applications accepted within three months following a lapsed, rejected or withdrawn application by the same applicant.
⁽⁴⁾	First comment letters are the first letters issued by the staff of the Listing Division that contain the Listing Division’s comments on the respective listing applications.
⁽⁵⁾	The statistics used cover only the first comment letters/guidance letters issued in this month and non-business days have not been subtracted from the numbers of average days reported.

Delisting and Suspension Information
(As at 30 September 2009 )

				Main Board	GEM	Total
(a)	Number of delisted companies (since 1 January 2009)
	a.	Withdrawal of listing pursuant to privatisation		3	0	3
	b.	Transfer of listing from GEM to Main Board		N/A	4	4
	c.	Cancellation of listing pursuant to delisting procedures under the Listing Rules		0	0	0
	d.	Voluntary withdrawal of listing		1 __________	0 __________	1 __________
Total				4	4	8
(b)	Number of companies in suspension for three months or more (as at 30 September 2009)
	a.	Companies not in delisting procedures		12	9	21
	b.	a)	Main Board companies in delisting procedures:

			- first stage of delisting⁽⁶⁾	4	N/A	4
			- second stage of delisting⁽⁷⁾	8	N/A	8
			- third stage of delisting⁽⁷⁾	2	N/A	2
		b)	Main Board companies served with a notice of intention of cancellation of listing under Main Board Listing Rule 6.10	1	N/A	1
	c.	GEM companies given 6 months’ notice for delisting		N/A	1	1
	d.	Delisting approved by the Listing Committee		1*	0	1*
	e.	Resumption proposal approved in principle by the Exchange subject to fulfillment of conditions		1 __________	2 __________	3 __________
Total				29	12	41

Other Information
(As at 30 September 2009)

		Main Board	GEM	Total
(c)	Number of listed companies (as at 30 September 2009)	1,114	173	1,287

⁽⁶⁾	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.
⁽⁷⁾	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 Company applied for leave to appeal to the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. The Company’s application was refused.

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

Updated 30 Sep 2009