Hong Kong will promote dual primary and secondary listing of overseas enterprises, including enterprises from places including Southeast Asia and Belt and Road countries, in Hong Kong, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said.
It will also advance the inclusion of Kazakhstan's qualifying exchanges to the list of recognized stock exchanges, which paves the way for a secondary listing in the SAR, Lee said in his policy address.
The Securities and Futures Commission will begin consultation on streamlining prospectus disclosure requirements in 2027 to facilitate the listing of quality overseas firms in Hong Kong.
The city’s IPO market has been strong, with the amount of funds raised hitting over HK$340 billion in the first eight months of the year, surpassing last year's total.
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (0388) will consult the market in the first half of next year on amendments related to specialist technology listing, including a review of the market capitalisation threshold, as tech stocks accounted for over 40 percent of overall market liquidity.
The SFC and the HKEX will begin a second-stage consultation on increasing the competitiveness of the listing mechanism in the third quarter of 2026 to refine requirements concerning notifiable transactions, connected transactions and spin-offs. The goal is to reduce compliance costs and increase the flexibility of listed companies in corporate mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and spin-offs.
HKEX is conducting preparations with the market for launching a "T+1" settlement cycle for the cash market upon coordination with relevant mainland units. It is also collaborating with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to introduce an e-Hong Kong dollar payment solution for after-hours trading of derivatives, with real value transactions targeted for this year.
HKEX will support the industry in developing a variety of thematic indices, broaden the diversity of bond indices, explore the development of commodity indices and launch more index-based Exchange-Traded Funds and derivatives, to foster a financial index ecosystem.
The city will also lift the 10 percent total investment limit on eligible index-tracking ETFs by Mandatory Provident Funds, to take advantage of quality local ETFs.
The stock exchange operator will introduce a Green Equity Designation Scheme to raise the market profile of eligible green securities issuers.
