香港交易所八年最大改革的IPO開放

HKEX will allow universal confidential listings and reduce market-capitalisation thresholds for IPOs by start-ups and international firms A man stands near the logo of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, at its hall in Hong Kong on July 8. Photo: Reuters Stock exchange operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) will allow all listing applications to remain confidential and will reduce market-capitalisation requirements for listings by start-ups and international firms immediately, it announced on Friday. Confirming a report by the South China Morning Post, HKEX will proceed with confidential filing as it proposed in March in its biggest set of listing reforms since 2018. The exchange will also reduce the market-cap requirements for weighted voting right (WVR) companies to HK$20 billion (US$2.6 billion), from HK$40 billion currently. It will also lower the thresholds for a company using the revenue test to HK$6 billion in market capitalisation and HK$600 million in revenue in the most recent financial year, compared with HK$10 billion in market cap and HK$1 billion in revenue now. While some respondents in a consultation process requested lower thresholds, HKEX said most respondents agreed with the chosen reductions, and the proposal in March was in line with the levels in Shanghai and Shenzhen. The exchange received 73 responses during the consultation from March to May. The market cap requirement for overseas-listed innovative companies launching secondary listings in Hong Kong will also be lowered to HK$6 billion from HK$10 billion. The reforms aim to attract more innovative companies from around the world to list in Hong Kong. HKEX, which was the top global exchange in terms of initial public offering (IPO) fundraising last year, lost its crown to Nasdaq in the first half of 2026, a change brought about by last month’s blockbuster US$75 billion IPO by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The confidential filing mechanism will allow candidates to disclose only certain details after their listings are approved by the exchange operator, matching regulations in most other markets including the US, UK and Singapore. The change will end a rule in place since October 2013 that requires all listing candidates to publish their listing documents – including corporate history, business models and financial information – on the HKEX website once they submit a listing application. The obligation was enacted to provide more information to investors and research analysts early in the listing process, but start-ups have raised concerns about revealing such information to competitors. The reduced market capitalisation level for WVR companies will narrow the gap between Hong Kong and other markets. The New York Stock Exchange requires US$750 million, the UK US$39.7 million and Singapore US$116 million. Global stock exchanges are fighting to attract innovative companies with WVR structures, because many founders, having diluted their stakes to raise early-stage funding, no longer hold a majority of shares. Unhandled type: inline-plus-widget {"type":"inline-plus-widget"}