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The Government has welcomed publication of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)'s report on the annual review of the performance of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (SEHK) in its regulation of listing matters in 2008.
The SFC's report looked at the SEHK's operational procedures and decision-making processes in its regulation of listing matters, including those in respect of SEHK's powers to make Listing Rules. It reviewed sample cases to see how the SEHK's policies work in practice and to verify whether the SEHK's practices follow its policies.
The report recommended SEHK review how to make the information it discloses about its practices, procedures and decisions more readily accessible to both experienced market professionals and less frequent users of its many disclosures.
A government spokesman said today (December 29), "The administration welcomes SEHK to take measures to further improve public access to materials it issued in order to enhance transparency."
"The administration also notes that SEHK is taking new measures to canvass views from, and interact with, the market in order to engage the market at various stages of policy making for listing matters. We hope that such measures will strengthen communication between SEHK and the market, thereby facilitating the formulation of new Listing Rules," the spokesman said.
"The conduct of the annual review represents ongoing efforts by the SFC and SEHK to enhance the regulatory regime for the securities market in Hong Kong."
Ends/Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Issued at HKT 18:15
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