Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing is aiming to relax regulations on share-option schemes to allow companies more flexibility in their operations.
The exchange, in a consultation paper on listing rules released yesterday, said companies should be allowed to issue share options amounting to more than 10 per cent of issued capital but not more than 30 per cent. Shareholders must approve such large issues.
At present, issues of share options cannot amount to more than 10 per cent of a company's issued capital.
The exchange also proposed opening such issues to all investors, and not just to employees.
'A number of respondents commented that the requirements [for share-option schemes] are overly restrictive and should be further relaxed in order to allow listed issuers more flexibility,' the exchange said in the consultation paper.
The proposed changes are in line with relaxations of Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) rules announced in March by the exchange and the Securities and Futures Commission.
But the 30 per cent upper limit on issue sizes is lower than an offer in February by Tom.com, the Internet-content provider controlled by market giants Hutchison Whampoa and Cheung Kong (Holdings).