Plans to scrap a rule that listed companies must buy newspaper advertisements stating results and corporate announcements will be delayed until April 16 next year, according to Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing letters sent to all listed companies yesterday.
The practice of posting short-term preliminary results announcements on the HKEx website will be stopped from December 1, although companies will have to submit full preliminary results for posting on the exchange's website during non-trading hours.
The exchange previously set the end of this year to scrap a rule that requires listed companies to buy space from a Chinese and an English-language newspaper to give results, corporate announcements and executive appointments.
The plan has been postponed because many listed companies, including some Chinese listed ones, want more time to prepare their websites for the new regulations and for training on submitting the information to the exchange, a source said.
Under the latest plan, companies from April 16 must post announcements on the exchange and their own websites. Those that do not have a website will still need to buy newspaper advertisements.
For the six months after April 16, companies will have to buy small newspaper advertisements of at least 10 centimetres by 12 centimetres for notifications.
