香港上市制度改革計劃引發激烈辯論
Fierce debate over a proposed shake-up of Hong Kong’s listing regime has resulted in claims that detractors are turkeys scared of Christmas and even split publicly the city’s Listing Committee — the nexus of the territory’s role as the world’s largest venue for public floats.
擬議中的對香港上市制度的改革引發了激烈的辯論，這導致有人聲稱，批評者就像害怕聖誕節的火雞；不僅如此，這還導致了香港交易所(HKEx)上市委員會(Listing Committee)內部的公開分歧——該委員會關係着香港作爲全球最大上市發行地的地位。
Plans to reform the opaque process would shift the city’s decades-old balance of power between investors and issuers, giving the former potentially a greater say and putting the regulator at the centre of the process.
改革不透明程序的計劃將改變香港幾十年來投資者與發行方之間的權力平衡，可能會賦予投資者更多的發言權，並將監管機構置於上市程序的中心。
So far this year, companies have raised $22bn floating in Hong Kong, compared with $12.8bn in Shanghai and $11.7bn on the New York Stock Exchange, according to Dealogic. The city has been a top-three venue in all but one of the past 10 years.
根據Dealogic的數據，今年迄今，企業通過在香港上市籌資220億美元。在上海和紐約證券交易所(New York Stock Exchange)，這一數字分別爲128億美元和117億美元。在過去10年的9年裏，香港一直排在全球前三大上市地之列。
The proposals were put forward jointly by the Securities and Futures Commission, the city’s regulator, and the Hong Kong Exchange. A consultation period closed on Friday.
這些改革建議是由香港證監會(Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission)與港交所聯合提出的。意見徵詢期於上週五結束。
The scale of debate within the 28-strong listing committee itself went public last week when four members, including both deputy chairmen, published a submission broadly supporting the plans — contravening the committee’s majority-view opposition.
上週，由28位成員組成的上市委員會內部的激烈辯論被公之於衆，當時有4名成員（包括兩位副主席）提交了一份基本支持這些改革計劃的建議書，與該委員會的多數反對意見相左。
Analogies with turkeys’ lack of support for Christmas were made in committee meetings discussing responses to the changes, according to several members.
據幾名委員會成員稱，該委員會在開會討論對改革建議的迴應時，有人把這些批評者比喻爲不支持聖誕節的火雞。
“Like all good turkeys, we don’t tend to support Thanksgiving or Christmas,” admitted one member, who felt the proposals complicated an already confusing process.
“與所有正常的火雞一樣，我們不願意支持感恩節或聖誕節，”一位成員承認道，他認爲改革建議把已然令人困惑的程序複雜化了。
Hong Kong’s system gives a far greater say to those with vested interests in initial public offerings, such as bankers or accountants, than is allowed in London and New York, where the regulator approves IPOs.
相對於倫敦和紐約（由監管機構批准首次公開發行(IPO)），香港的上市制度賦予了那些在IPO中擁有既得利益的人士更大的發言權，例如銀行家或會計師。
Listing committee members include representatives from banks, law firms, accounting firms and listed companies. There are also eight investor representatives.
上市委員會成員包括來自銀行、律師事務所、會計師事務所和上市公司的代表。還有8名投資者代表。
Those calling for change say the system, which was largely developed under colonial rule, was not designed to deal with the governance challenges posed by the influx of mainland companies that make up the bulk of those listing in Hong Kong.
支持改革的人士表示，香港上市制度基本上是在殖民地時代發展起來的，沒有考慮應對中國內地公司涌入所構成的治理挑戰，而中國內地公司現在佔香港IPO的絕大部分。
The system’s ability to cope with this has been called into question following a series of incidents including inexplicable stock rallies and collapses as well as the use of newly listed companies as shells to help others avoid the full listings process.
在一系列事件後，該制度應對這些挑戰的能力遭到質疑，這些事件包括股價莫名其妙地上揚和下挫，以及把新上市的公司作爲殼公司幫助其他公司規避完整的上市程序。
Would-be public companies currently apply to the HKEx’s listing division, which refers them to the Listing Committee for approval. The SFC is also sent a copy of each application and it has a right of veto.
目前，擬上市公司要向港交所上市部門申請，該部門把申請遞交給上市委員會審批。香港證監會也會得到一份申請副本，擁有否決權。
Responses to the consultation have not all been made public. Those seen by the Financial Times roughly split with investors in favour of the changes while IPO advisers are opposed.
改革建議意見徵詢收到的迴應沒有全部公開。英國《金融時報》看到的迴應基本上分爲兩種，投資者支持改革，而IPO顧問反對。
“In Hong Kong investors are to be seen but must not be heard,” said David Webb, an independent shareholder activist, in his submission. He described the current committee as “stacked in favour of issuers and their paid advisers”.
“在香港，投資者是用來看的，但他們的聲音決不能被聽到，”獨立股東維權人士戴維.韋伯(David Webb)在他遞交的意見中表示。他認爲當前的委員會“一邊倒地傾向發行方和他們的付費顧問”。
The proposals would introduce two new bodies to deal with policy and regulatory issues — which sit largely with the listing committee — both of which would include the SFC as well as an investor representative as one of just three members from the listing committee.
改革建議將推出兩個新的機構來解決政策和監管問題，這兩個機構將基本上與上市委員會並立，都將包含香港證監會成員以及來自上市委員會的三名成員（其中一人爲投資者代表）。
