Chief Of HKEx Listings Wants Disclosure Penalty

香港交易所上市科新任主管狄勤思(Mark Dickens)说，对于那些未及时披露敏感信息的上市公司，他将力争对其董事采取严厉惩罚措施。今年56岁的狄勤思于今年3月出任香港交易所上市科主管。他说，港交所正敦促港府和监管部门制定相关法令，对未能及时透明地向市场披露敏感信息的公司实施处罚。但现在谈论具体的处罚措施还为时尚早。狄勤思说，需要由上市公司的董事们自己决定什么是敏感信息，而不是由监管部门作出界定。他说，我们将把责任转回到上市公司，这是我们应该做的事情。上市公司的信息披露成为香港近期的一个热门话题。本月，警方因涉嫌欺诈对中信泰富(Citic Pacific)进行调查，突击检查了该公司的办公室，之后公司两位高管辞职。该公司去年延迟了6周才公布外汇交易亏损消息。3月份，汇丰控股(HSBC Holdings PLC)因在公布年底收益报告前未发布盈利预警而遭到公众批评。汇丰2008年盈利缩水70%。狄勤思未对汇丰或中信泰富直接发表评论，但他笼统谈到了企业向公众披露敏感信息的问题。他说，我们现在已经看到了问题。狄勤思还表示，港交所计划6月份向市场征求意见，看看有什么可替代强制发布季报的选择。目前香港仅要求上市公司每年公布两次业绩，有关发布季报的提议遭到了香港企业界的反对。与此同时，由于经济衰退使港交所的首次公开募股(IPO)交易几近枯竭，狄勤思强调有必要简化对企业在港交所上市的要求。之前几年，港交所的IPO交易非常兴盛。狄勤思说，为此，将对企业申请上市前必须连续三年盈利其间累计盈利额不少于5,000万港元的要求作出修改。狄勤思说，我们需要考虑盈利要求是否为最佳手段。Jonathan Cheng相关阅读香港交易所中止收市竞价交易时段 2009-03-13 本文涉及股票或公司document.write (truthmeter('2009年04月20日10:43', '0388.HK'));香港交易及结算所有限公司（简称：香港交易所）英文名称：Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd.总部地点：香港上市地点：香港交易所股票代码：0388


The new head of listing at Hong Kong's stock exchange said he is pushing for tough penalties against directors of companies that don't promptly disclose sensitive information.Mark Dickens, a 56-year-old former regulator who in March became listings chief at Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd., said the exchange is pressing the government and regulators to introduce statutory penalties for companies that fail to disclose sensitive information to the market in a timely and transparent manner. It is too soon to say what the penalties would be.But company directors needed to take the initiative to decide what constitutes sensitive information, Mr. Dickens said, rather than depending on regulators to spell it out. 'We're pushing responsibility back to listed companies, which is what we should be doing,' he said.The issue of disclosure has become a hot topic in Hong Kong. Two top executives at blue-chip conglomerate Citic Pacific Ltd. resigned this month after police raided its offices in an investigation into fraud allegations. The company waited six weeks to announce foreign-exchange losses last year.In March, HSBC Holdings PLC drew public criticism for not issuing a profit warning ahead of its year-end earnings, in which the London bank announced a 70% plunge in annual profit.Mr. Dickens didn't comment directly on HSBC or Citic Pacific, but said generally of companies' public disclosures of sensitive information: 'We've seen the problem now.'Mr. Dickens also said the exchange planned in June to consult the market on alternatives to mandatory quarterly earnings reporting. Hong Kong's listed companies have to report results only twice a year, and a push to introduce quarterly reporting has stirred up opposition from the local business community.At the same time, Mr. Dickens stressed the need to cut down on hurdles to company listings as HKEx, as the exchange operator is known, watches the volume of initial public offerings dry up in the recession after several blockbuster years.One part of that effort, Mr. Dickens said, will be tweaking a rule that requires listing applicants to be profitable for three consecutive years before listing, with an accumulated profit of at least 50 million Hong Kong dollars ($6.5 million) during the period. 'We need to consider whether the profit test is the best way to go,' Mr. Dickens said.Jonathan Cheng