Report on Initial Public Offering Applications, Delisting and Suspensions (As at 31 August 2012)

Market Operations

31 Aug 2012

Report on Initial Public Offering Applications, Delisting and Suspensions
(As at 31 August 2012)

					Main Board	GEM	Total
New Applications Accepted
	a.		August 2012
			(i)	Application(s) made by companies pursuant to Chapter 8 of the Main Board Listing Rules/Chapter 11 of the GEM Listing Rules	10	6	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	1	N/A	1
			(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		11	6	17
	b.		2012 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	61	21	82
			(ii)	Application(s) made by investment vehicle(s) pursuant to Chapters 20 and 21 of the Main Board Listing Rules	12	N/A	12
			(iii)	Application(s) for transfer of listing from GEM to Main Board	7	N/A	7
			(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		80	22	102
Approvals in principle granted⁽¹⁾
	a.	August 2012			4	0	4
	b.	2012 Year-to-date			48	8	56
Active applications⁽¹⁾ (as at 31 August 2012)
1.	Under processing (based on listing application form accepted):
	a.	New applications accepted since 1 January 2012			40	20	60
	b.	Others			7 __________	1 __________	8 ________
		Sub-total			47	21	68
2.	Approval in principle granted
	a.	Approvals granted since 1 January 2012			9	1	10
	b.	Others			4 __________	0 __________	4 _________
Total					60	22	82

Inactive applications⁽²⁾ (since 1 January 2012)
1.	Lapsed
	a.	Approval in principle granted but not listed prior to application lapsed		30	2	32
	b.	Others		37	20	57
2.	Rejected			4	2	6
3.	Withdrawn			7 __________	1 __________	8 _________
	Sub-total			78	25	103
4.	Renewals⁽³⁾			(35) __________	(13) __________	(48) _________
Total				43	12	55
No. of new listings(since 1 January 2012)
		(i)	Companies listed pursuant to Chapter 8 of the Main Board Listing Rules/Chapter 11 of the GEM Listing Rules	37	10	47
		(ii)	Investment vehicle(s) listed pursuant to Chapters 20 and 21 of the Main Board Listing Rules	30	N/A	30
		(iii)	Transfer of listing from GEM to Main Board	2	N/A	2
		(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				70	10	80

First Comment Letters Issued⁽⁴⁾
	a.	August 2012	10
	b.	Average number of days taken between the date of application and the date of issue of related first comment letter	15

Guidance issued to potential new listing applicants or their advisers on matters relating to the Listing Rules
	a.	August 2012	14
	b.	Average number of days taken between the date of request for guidance and the date of issue of written response⁽⁵⁾	6

⁽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 Listing Division staff that contain the Listing Division's 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 eleven and the average number of days taken is fifteen.
⁽⁵⁾	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 2012)

				Main Board	GEM	Total
(a)	Number of delisted companies (since 1 January 2012)
	a.	Withdrawal of listing pursuant to privatisation		8	0	8
	b.	Transfer of listing from GEM to Main Board		N/A	2	2
	c.	Cancellation of listing pursuant to delisting procedures under the Listing Rules		2	0	2
	d.	Voluntary withdrawal of listing		0 __________	0 __________	0 __________
Total				10	2	12
(b)	Number of companies in suspension for three months or more (as at 31 August 2012)
	a.	Companies not in delisting procedures		28	9	37
	b.	a)	Main Board companies in delisting procedures:

			- first stage of delisting⁽⁶⁾	1	N/A	1
			- second stage of delisting⁽⁷⁾	3	N/A	3
			- third stage of delisting⁽⁷⁾	4	N/A	4
		b)	Main Board companies served with a notice of intention of cancellation of listing under Main Board Listing Rule 6.10	0	N/A	0
	c.	GEM companies given 6 months' notice for delisting		N/A	2	2
	d.	Delisting approved by the Listing Committee		1*	0	1*
	e.	Resumption proposal approved in principle by the Exchange subject to fulfillment of conditions		2 __________	1 __________	3 __________
Total				39	12	51

Other Information
(As at 31 August 2012)

		Main Board	GEM	Total
(c)	Number of listed companies (as at 31 August 2012)	1,355	178	1,533

⁽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 is in progress.

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

Ends

Updated 04 Sep 2012