August start eyed for second board

The mainland's Nasdaq-style second board will not be officially launched until August, after the regulator completes reviewing the initial public offerings of the first batch of applicants.

Yao Gang, a vice-chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, told China Central Television that the watchdog had yet to outline in detail the specific rules governing the review procedures for IPOs and the underwriting process for the new market in Shenzhen.

It also usually takes the CSRC three months to vet listing applications.

On Monday, the regulator published more general listing rules governing the long-heralded technology market that will take effect on May 1, but did not say when second-board operations would officially start.

The announcement was the first time Beijing had unveiled a timetable for the growth market, which has been delayed for nearly a decade.

The regulator set a lower threshold for small companies eying a second-board listing, such as two years of profitability instead of three, and will set up an independent committee to review listing applications.

Analysts said the regulator would still take a cautious stance on the second board amid concerns of a possible liquidity drain on the main board.

Mr Yao said the creation of the second board on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange would have minimal impact on existing stocks, since small companies would not soak up large sums of investment money.

Each small firm is expected to raise about 100 million yuan (HK$113.41 million) from share offerings, and about 100 new firms would be approved to launch share sales a year, he said.

Funds raised by the second board each year might not even be as much as a flotation by a single heavyweight, state-owned company.