Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Frederick Ma says the dual filing system has been operating smoothly, and listing procedures have improved in recent years.

If both the Securities & Futures Commission and the Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing consider it necessary to conduct a review on the system and the procedures, the Government will give its full support and adopt an open-minded approach, he added.

In his FSTB &You column published today, he said a listing mechanism is an integral part of any financial market as it performs a gate-keeping function to ensure market quality and maintain investor confidence. He said it is necessary to strike a balance between protecting investors and simplifying the procedures for listing in Hong Kong.

"The listing procedures should not be too complicated and irrelevant questions should not be asked in processing listing applications. But for the purpose of ensuring market quality, the procedures should not be too lax."

Dual filing

Introduced in 2003, the dual filing system has been playing an important gate-keeping role. Under it, copies of listing applications and public disclosure materials from listed companies have to be filed with the commission and the stock exchange.

The commission has the power to comment on and object to a listing application. It can also exercise its statutory powers to take action against those providing false or misleading information.

"On the issue of whether it is necessary to review the dual filing system and the listing procedures, the Government is of the view that if both the SFC and the HKEx, which are responsible for the day-to-day regulation of the market, consider it necessary to conduct a review, the Government will give its full support and adopt an open-minded approach."