Hong Kong exchange operator expects deluge of new listings, to digitise paperwork

Name: Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba starts trading on Hong Kong stock exchange
Uploaded: 2020-10-12T01:00:14.000Z
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Technology will further enhance processes, cut paper use, HKEX’s head of listing, Bonnie Chan says

Hong Kong has emerged as a hub for listings by big tech following reforms in April 2018, and needs such enhancements to cope with influx of applications

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Digitisation will improve the efficiency of the overall market, says Bonnie Chan, head of listing at Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing. Photo: Winson Wong

Enoch Yiu

Published: 9:00am, 12 Oct 2020Updated: 9:20am, 12 Oct 2020

Bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) will digitise its listings application process to cope with a deluge of newcomers, Bonnie Chan, its head of listing, said.

To be introduced before the end of the year, the digitisation will allow companies to submit their applications electronically instead of the current practice of submitting paper forms, she added.

“Technology will help us further enhance our processes and cut out paper,” she said in an interview. “The objectives of this digital transformation are to improve data quality and increase automation in the listing form submission process. It is expected to eliminate 11,000 paper forms in the first year of launch. Digitisation will also reduce human error and improve the efficiency of the overall market,” she said.

Hong Kong has emerged as a hub for listings by big technology companies after HKEX introduced reforms in April 2018. Such enhancements come as a result of an increase in flotation applications that has followed. Last year, the exchange started using artificial intelligence (AI) to help staff check the annual reports of the more than 2,500 companies listed in the city. AI might also be used in the listing applications stage at a later date.

“Ten years ago, during the busiest of times, we were handling around 60 IPO applications, simultaneously. Now, at any given point, we are handling as many as 200 IPO applications at the same time,” Chan said. Without technology, she might need to hire more people to handle the rising number of applications. Her division is currently staffed by 268 people.

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Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba starts trading on Hong Kong stock exchange

Ant Group, China’s biggest digital payments provider, is to list in Hong Kong and Shanghai, in what is widely expected to be the biggest initial public offering (IPO) globally. And while the Alipay operator received an approval on September 18 from the listing committee of Star Market, the Shanghai exchange’s Nasdaq-style stock market board, it is awaiting approvals from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the mainland’s top regulator, as well as HKEX.