Record 20 companies face expulsion from Hong Kong stock exchange if they fail to convince regulators they’ve improved
- Under rules introduced a year ago, all 20 must apply by Wednesday for their suspended shares to be allowed to resume trading, or face possible delisting
- If all of them fail to convince the watchdog they’ve turned things around, it would be one of the biggest mass expulsions of any bourse worldwide
Twenty companies face possible expulsion from the Hong Kong stock exchange if they miss a deadline on Wednesday to convince regulators that their shares should be allowed to resume trading.
If all 20 were to miss the deadline, or fail to address the problems that led to their suspension in the first place, it would be by far the biggest number of delistings in a single year in the history of the city’s stock exchange and one of the largest of any bourse worldwide.
A new rule announced last August meant companies whose shares had been suspended for at least the previous 12 months would be permanently expelled from the bourse if they failed to apply to resume trading within one year.
Two out of the 22 firms that had been suspended for more than 12 months when the rule was introduced have already dodged the axe and been given the green light for their shares to resume trading ahead of the deadline.
Dynasty Fine Wines Group resumed trading on Monday having been suspended for more than six years. Its share price fell 52 per cent to close at 69 HK cents on Monday compared with its last traded at HK$1.44 before its suspension on March 22, 2013.