Report on Initial Public Offering Applications, Delisting and Suspensions (As at 31 December 2009)

Market Operations

31 Dec 2009

Report on Initial Public Offering Applications, Delisting and Suspensions
(As at 31 December 2009)

					Main Board	GEM	Total
New Applications Accepted
	a.		December 2009
			(i)	Application(s) made by companies pursuant to Chapter 8 of the Main Board Listing Rules/ Chapter 11 of the GEM Listing Rules	12	0	12
			(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	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 __________	1 __________	1 ________
			Sub-total		13	1	14
	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	91	7	98
			(ii)	Application(s) made by investment vehicle(s) pursuant to Chapters 20 and 21 of the Main Board Listing Rules	20	N/A	20
			(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 __________	1 __________	1 ________
			Sub-total		115	8	123
Approvals in principle granted⁽¹⁾
	a.	December 2009			9	0	9
	b.	2009 Year-to-date			94	5	99
Active applications⁽¹⁾ (as at 31 December 2009)
1.	Under processing (based on listing application form accepted):
	a.	New applications accepted since 1 January 2009			28	3	31
	b.	Others			0 __________	0 __________	0 ________
		Sub-total			28	3	31
2.	Approval in principle granted
	a.	Approvals granted since 1 January 2009			12	0	12
	b.	Others			0	0	0
Total					40	3	43

Inactive applications⁽²⁾ (since 1 January 2009)
1.	Lapsed
	a.	Approval in principle granted but not listed prior to application lapsed		27	1	28
	b.	Others		23	2	25
2.	Rejected			0	0	0
3.	Withdrawn			3 __________	0 __________	3 ________
	Sub-total			53	3	56
4.	Renewals⁽³⁾			(17)	(1)	(18)
Total				36	2	38
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	64	5	69
		(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	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		88	5	93

First Comment Letters Issued⁽⁴⁾
	a.	December 2009	8
	b.	Average number of days taken between the date of application and the date of issue of related first comment letter⁽⁵⁾	20

Guidance issued to potential new listing applicants or their advisers on matters relating to the Listing Rules
	a.	December 2009	4
	b.	Average number of days taken between the date of request for guidance and the date of issue of written response⁽⁵⁾	4

⁽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 31 December 2009 )

				Main Board	GEM	Total
(a)	Number of delisted companies (since 1 January 2009)
	a.	Withdrawal of listing pursuant to privatisation		8	1	9
	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		1	0	1
	d.	Voluntary withdrawal of listing		1 __________	0 __________	1 __________
Total				10	5	15
(b)	Number of companies in suspension for three months or more (as at 31 December 2009)
	a.	Companies not in delisting procedures		9	8	17
	b.	a)	Main Board companies in delisting procedures:

			- first stage of delisting⁽⁶⁾	7	N/A	7
			- second stage of delisting⁽⁷⁾	7	N/A	7
			- 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				28	11	39

Other Information
(As at 31 December 2009)

		Main Board	GEM	Total
(c)	Number of listed companies (as at 31 December 2009)	1,145	174	1,319

⁽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 to the Exchange to review the delisting decision. The review procedures are in progress.

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

Updated 31 Dec 2009