Pair work on negative assets issue

In a bid to enhance transparency, the Securities and Futures Commission is working with Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing on a broad set of principles for companies with negative or negligible net assets. In a reply to Legislative Council member Albert Ho Chun-yan, the SFC said there was a need for improvement in promoting transparency in cases where the exchanges granted waivers for disclosing transactions to companies with net negative assets. The SFC has reviewed five applications in the past three years for waivers from public disclosures or obtaining shareholders' approvals before entering into certain transactions. The exchange approved two cases, including Pacific Century CyberWorks, and rejected three.