香港拟简化上市规则

The Hong Kong stock market and regulators are working on rule changes to make foreign company listings on the city’s stock market simpler to do and easier for investors to understand.

港交所(HHEx)和香港监管当局正在研究改变上市规则，以使外国公司在香港上市更容易，也使规则更容易为投资者所理解。

The two bodies are trying to simplify the rules for primary and secondary listings to create a set of core principles that are transparent, clear and easy to understand for companies, investors and regulators, according to people familiar with the process.

熟悉此事进展的人士透露，港交所和监管当局正在努力简化首次上市和二次上市的规则，建立一套对公司、投资者和监管者来说透明、清晰、易懂的核心原则。

Hong Kong lost its crown this year as the world’s leading exchange for new capital raisings, which it had held for three years, mostly because of the collapse in activity from big Chinese state-owned companies, which do not count as foreign companies.

港交所过去三年新股融资额全球第一，但在今年未能蝉联这一桂冠，主要原因是中国大型国有企业上市活动骤减，这些企业不计入外国公司。

The Hong Kong exchange has been trying to broaden its business away from its heavy reliance on Chinese equity listings in recent years both by trying to attract more primary and secondary listing from overseas and more recently by buying the London Metal Exchange.

港交所一直努力扩宽业务范围，而不再像近几年那样严重依赖中国企业的股票上市。为此，港交所努力吸引更多海外公司来港首次上市和二次上市，并在最近收购了伦敦金属交易所(LME)。

Some see the changes as key to maintaining Hong Kong’s position as an international financial centre.

一些人将港交所改变规则看作维持香港国际金融中心地位的关键之举。

“To enjoy being an international financial centre and make that sustainable, you must attract more international companies and new companies, said one person with knowledge of the work. “This is not about lowering standards, but making the process more user friendly.

“为了享有并保持国际金融中心的地位， 你必须吸引更多全球各地的公司和新公司，一位知情人士表示，“这并不是要降低标准，而是让上市程序变得更容易掌握。

The changes are being worked on in parallel with the regulator’s efforts to tighten up standards around the role of sponsors in preparing initial public offerings, including making them criminally liable for false or misleading statements by companies in their prospectuses.

在研究如何改变规则的同时，香港监管当局正在努力收紧围绕保荐人在筹备首次公开发行(IPO)时角色的标准，包括要求他们对上市公司在招股书中的不实和误导性陈述负刑事责任。

This followed scandals around companies such as Hontex, a Chinese group that had assets frozen three months after listing.

此前洪良国际(Hontex)等公司曝出丑闻，这家中国企业在上市三个月后即被冻结资产。