On 19 November 2021, the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the “Exchange”) published the conclusions of a consultation (“Conclusions”) on its review of the listing regime for overseas issuers (including those with centre of gravity in Greater China, together “Overseas Issuers”). All consultation proposals will be adopted with minor modifications and the revised regime and the new guidance materials will become effective from 1 January 2022.

To develop Hong Kong into a listing and capital raising hub for major global and regional companies, the Exchange published a consultation paper (the “Consultation Paper”) on 31 March 2021 seeking market feedback on proposed amendments to the Listing Rules to streamline the listing regime for Overseas Issuers (for the summary, please refer to our Capital Markets Update Issue 2021-02). The consultation period ended on 31 May 2021.

The key objective of the proposals set out in the Consultation Paper is to enhance and streamline the listing regime, while maintaining the quality of the market and the high standards of shareholder protection that Hong Kong is known for. The Exchange concluded that all the proposals outlined in the Consultation Paper should be adopted with minor modifications in response to market comments. The key changes are as follows:

1. Streamlining core shareholder protection standards. 
2. Expanding the secondary listing regime for non-WVR Greater China Issuers.  
3. Allowing issuers eligible for secondary listing to opt for dual-primary listing.
4. Providing guidance materials for secondary listed issuers.