Hong Kong Stock Exchange seeks to ease listing rules for corporate deals

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. (HKEX) just opened a market consultation that would significantly loosen the rules governing how listed companies buy, sell, restructure, and spin off assets. The consultation, launched on September 21, targets post-listing rules across three categories: notifiable transactions, connected transactions, and spin-off transactions. What’s actually changing The headline number is the proposed threshold for major transactions, which would jump from 25% to 50%. In practical terms, that means a listed company could execute a deal worth up to half its market capitalization before triggering the most burdensome disclosure and approval requirements. Under current rules, that trigger kicks in at a quarter. The ownership threshold for connected subsidiaries would also rise, from 10% to 30%. Under the current framework, if a company owns just 10% of a subsidiary, transactions involving that subsidiary can get flagged as connected transactions, requiring independent shareholder approval and other compliance hoops. Pushing that to 30% narrows the definition considerably. Perhaps the most practically significant change involves spin-offs. HKEX is proposing to ...