HK Listing Rules Amendments following recent promulgation of the New PRC Overseas Listing Regime

by the CSRC and HKEX consultation regarding certain Listing Rules relating to PRC issuers

On 24 February 2023, the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the “SEHK”) published the consequential amendments to the Hong Kong Listing Rules (the “Listing Rules”) to reflect the new overseas listing regime introduced by the China Securities Regulatory Commission to regulate all types of overseas equity securities issuances and listing activities by enterprises based in the mainland of China, which will come into effect on 31 March 2023. See our client alert about this new PRC regime. The consequential Listing Rules amendments will not be subject to public consultation and their implementation date will be announced subject to completion of the Hong Kong regulatory approval requirements. 

The SEHK has taken this opportunity to review the Listing Rules relating to PRC issuers and has proposed additional amendments (mainly in Chapter 19A) that are either no longer necessary in light of developments in Mainland Chinese law or that could be aligned with the requirements applicable to overseas issuers and PRC issuers. The public consultation for these additional amendments will close on 24 March 2023. 

We highlight in this bulletin several key points relating to the consequential rule amendments and changes to the Listing Rules proposed by the SEHK.