Xu Zhengyu: The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) will consult the market in the first quarter to revise the listing requirements for companies with dual-class shares and optimize the initial public offering process

In response to the newly released "Fiscal Budget," the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Xu Zhengyu, stated at a press conference that the Hong Kong stock market continues to perform well, with the total market capitalization rising to HKD 50 trillion and new stock listings being active. Funds continue to flow in, driving the development of asset and wealth management industries. The government will continue to consolidate existing advantages, expand into emerging fields, strengthen market systems and risk management, and deepen financial cooperation in the Greater Bay Area, comprehensively enhancing Hong Kong's functions as an international financial center.

Xu Zhengyu indicated that to continuously optimize, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will consult the market in the first quarter on revising the listing requirements for "dual-class shares," facilitate secondary listings for overseas issuers, optimize the initial public offering process, and provide further flexibility for biotechnology and specialized technology companies; in the first half of the year, it will implement a refined framework for the listing of structured products and consult the market on the specific implementation plan for the T+1 settlement cycle; it will reform the trading unit system and, together with the Securities and Futures Commission and the industry, launch a paperless securities market system within the year. The next phase will optimize the ongoing regulatory framework for listed companies, provide specific guidelines for secondary listings of overseas companies, and include more overseas markets as recognized exchanges.

Regarding the bond market, the Securities and Futures Commission and the Monetary Authority will implement the "Roadmap for the Development of the Fixed Income and Money Market" to promote issuance and liquidity, expand offshore RMB business, and support the new generation of infrastructure. To align with the development of digital assets and the application of tokenization technology in the bond market, the government will provide guidelines to clarify the use of distributed ledger technology for the registration of bondholders, explore electronic signatures for issuing documents, and promote the electronicization of bearer bonds.

On regulatory optimization, the Mandatory Provident Fund Authority suggests optimizing the procedures for employers to recover overdue contributions. The first phase of the "Full Portability" of the MPF is expected to be implemented this year, with legislation to expand the coverage of employees in the first half of next year; the Insurance Authority will optimize the risk-based capital regime for insurance companies, adjust the risk parameters for general insurance business, and reduce capital requirements for infrastructure investments.

Xu Zhengyu pointed out that the Central Moneymarkets Unit (CMU) and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange have begun research to establish a one-stop diversified asset trading post-securities infrastructure, covering stocks and bonds from the mainland and Hong Kong, facilitating collateral interoperability. The CMU will connect more regional platforms, such as linking with the Swiss SIX platform, and will launch post-trade services for stocks for the first time.

In addition, measures will be taken through taxation and product expansion to enhance market capacity and attractiveness. In promoting the internationalization of the RMB, the total quota for RMB business funding arrangements doubled to RMB 200 billion at the beginning of the month; efforts will be made to promote more convenient foreign exchange quotation trading between the RMB and regional currencies, the government will regularly issue RMB bonds to improve the yield curve, construct an interest rate curve, and attract high-quality and emerging market issuers.

To promote the development of the REITs market, he stated that a statutory system will be introduced to facilitate the privatization or restructuring of REITs, and stamp duty exemptions will be granted for the transfer of non-residential properties for REITs preparing for listing.

In establishing an international gold trading market, in addition to the various measures already announced, Xu Zhengyu stated that the government will study providing tax incentives for qualified institutions conducting gold trading and settlement in Hong Kong and will establish a training framework for the industry