Report on Initial Public Offering Applications, Delisting and Suspensions (As at 29 December 2017)

Market Operations

29 Dec 2017

Report on Initial Public Offering Applications, Delisting and Suspensions
(As at 29 December 2017)

					Main Board	GEM	Total
New Applications Accepted
	a.		December 2017
			(i)	Application(s) made by companies pursuant to Chapter 8 of the Main Board Listing Rules/Chapter 11 of the GEM Listing Rules	3	9	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 ________	0 ________	0 ________
Total					4	9	13
	b.		2017 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	131	127	258
			(ii)	Application(s) made by investment vehicle(s) pursuant to Chapters 20 and 21 of the Main Board Listing Rules	23	N/A	23
			(iii)	Application(s) for transfer of listing from GEM to Main Board	22	N/A	22
			(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)	7 _________	0 _________	7 _________
Total					183	127	310
Approvals in principle granted⁽¹⁾
	a.	December 2017			14	14	28
	b.	2017 Year-to-date			129	87	216
Active applications⁽¹⁾(as at 29 December 2017)
1.	Under processing
	a.	New applications accepted since 1 January 2017			70	62	132
	b.	Others			4 _________	3 _________	7 _________
		Sub-total			74	65	139
2.	Approval in principle granted
	a.	Approvals granted since 1 January 2017			17	16	33
	b.	Others			0 _________	0 _________	0 _________
Total					91	81	172

Inactive applications⁽²⁾ (since 1 January 2017)
1.	Lapsed
	a.	Approval in principle granted but not listed prior to application lapsed		21	17	38
	b.	Others		81	76	157
2.	Rejected			3⁽³⁾	5	8
3.	Withdrawn			3	11	14
4.	Returned⁽⁴⁾			3 _________	2 _________	5 _________
	Total			111	111	222

5.	Renewals⁽⁵⁾			80	77	157
6.	Returned cases resubmitted⁽⁶⁾			0 _________	3 _________	3 _________
	Total			80	80	160
No. of new listings (since 1 January 2017)
		(i)	Companies listed pursuant to Chapter 8 of the Main Board Listing Rules/ Chapter 11 of the GEM Listing Rules	81	80	161
		(ii)	Investment vehicle(s) listed pursuant to Chapters 20 and 21 of the Main Board Listing Rules	22	N/A	22
		(iii)	Transfer of listing from GEM to Main Board	13	N/A	13
		(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				117	80	197

First Comment Letters Issued⁽⁷⁾
	a.	December 2017	11
	b.	Average number of days taken between the date of application and the date of issue of related first comment letter	23

Guidance issued to potential new listing applicants or their advisers on matters relating to the Listing Rules
	a.	December 2017	13
	b.	Average number of days taken between the date of request for guidance and the date of issue of written response⁽⁸⁾	9

⁽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⁾	The rejection decision of one case was reversed by the Listing Appeals Committee in November 2017 and the rejection decision of another case was reversed by the Listing (Review) Committee in December 2017.
⁽⁴⁾	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.
⁽⁵⁾	Includes all applications accepted within three months following a lapsed, rejected or withdrawn application by the same applicant.
⁽⁶⁾	Applications resubmitted to the Exchange after an 8-week moratorium from the date of the return letter.
⁽⁷⁾	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.
⁽⁸⁾	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 29 December 2017)

			Main Board	GEM	Total
(a)	Number of delisted companies (since 1 January 2017)
	a.	Withdrawal of listing pursuant to privatisation	8	0	8
	b.	Transfer of listing from GEM to Main Board	N/A	13	13
	c.	Cancellation of listing pursuant to delisting procedures under the Listing Rules	3	2	5
	d.	Voluntary withdrawal of listing	2 _________	1 _________	3 _________
Total			13	16	29
(b)	Number of companies in suspension for three months or more (as at 29 December2017)
	a.	Companies not in delisting procedures	29	1	30
	b.	Main Board companies in delisting procedures:
		- first stage of delisting⁽⁹⁾	2	N/A	2
		- second stage of delisting⁽¹⁰⁾	4	N/A	4
		- third stage of delisting⁽¹⁰⁾	14	N/A	14
		- others⁽¹¹⁾	1	N/A	1
	c.	GEM companies given 6 months' notice for delisting	N/A	2	2
	d.	Delisting approved by the Listing Committee	3*	0	3
	e.	Resumption proposals approved in principle by the Exchange subject to fulfillment of conditions	0 _________	0 _________	0 _________
Total			53	3	56

Other Information
(As at 29 December 2017)

			Main Board	GEM	Total
(c)	Number of listed companies (as at 29 December2017)		1,794	324	2,118

⁽⁹⁾	Where the Exchange has issued a letter to the long-suspended company informing it of the commencement of the delisting procedures under Practice Note 17 to the Main Board Listing Rules 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.
⁽¹⁰⁾	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.
⁽¹¹⁾	The Exchange has decided to commence procedures under Rule 6.01(4) to cancel the listing of companies on the ground that they are no longer suitable for listing.

*	The companies 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 29 Dec 2017