Turf war over Hong Kong’s stock market regulation: watchdog chief attacks critics of reform
Chief executive of market watchdog dismisses claims that his agency will be given more power and warns that public could be ‘misinformed’
SFC chief executive Ashley Alder rejected criticism of the proposals – which would give his agency greater power in the listing process – by stock market regulator HKEX, accountants and listed companies, warning that their objections could leave the public “misinformed”.
In an unusual move for the SFC to comment during an on-going consultation, Alder said the regulator needed to clarify matters as some recent commentary seemed to be “based on a flawed understanding of the proposals”.
The divide between the two regulators became evident after they jointly announced a three-month consultation to revamp the listing process.
The plan is to establish a listing regulatory committee and a listing policy committee, with equal representation from both regulators, effectively involving the SFC in the listing process at an earlier stage. At present, HKEX and a committee approve new listings and set policies, while the SFC grants approval in the final stage.
But there is strong opposition, with HKEX director Vincent Lee saying the proposals were prepared by exchange staff and did not have board approval. Lee said he was totally opposed to the reforms, which might grant the SFC power to kill off some listing applications in the early stage.
