David Webb Says Disappointed at New GEM Rules
Jul 27, 2001 - 19:58:17 HKT
Quamnet News Service
David Webb, editor of webb-site.com, slammed the newly proposed amendments of the listing rules of Hong Kong's second board, the Growth Enterprise Market, saying that the proposals are "disappointing" and fail to restore the reputation of the market that has already been "seriously damaged".
Among the rule changes, the loosening of a requirement that demands listing candidates to have been in business for at least 24 months is of the most concern. Under the new proposals, candidates with substantial size and significant public following will be allowed to list with an active business record of 12 months, instead of 24 months, provided that they satisfy certain criteria, including a market value of at least HK$500 million and an IPO price of at least HK$1 per share.
"It is wrong to have bigger companies listing with only one year of track record," said Webb. "SUNeVision (8008) and Tom (8001) are bigger companies, which don't save investors from losing less money."
It is hard to judge the quality of a company with only one year of record, Webb said. Therefore, investors need to be extremely careful with future listing candidates of such kind, he said. |
