On 18 December 2020, the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the “Exchange”) published the conclusions of its consultation on proposals to introduce a paperless listing & subscription regime, online display of documents and reduction of the types of documents on display.

The Exchange believes that the current Listing Rule requirements for printed form physical listing documents and the physical display of documents are out-of-step. This is especially so considering the changes in the availability and usage of the internet and the common practice of other Hong Kong regulators, and those overseas, that largely allow these documents to be made available electronically or online. Accordingly, the Exchange proposed the fully paperless listing documents and paperless subscriptions and requires the documents to be published online, to ensure the Listing Rules are current and reflect market developments as well as international best practice.

The Exchange, after considering the comments from the respondents, decided to adopt all the proposals in the Consultation with minor modifications. The related Listing Rules amendments will take effect on 5 July 2021 for the Paperless Listing and Subscription Regime and 4 October 2021 for the Online Display of Documents and the Reduction of Documents on Display.