Join Julia Charlton for a CPD webinar examining the Required Standards of sponsor work on Hong Kong IPOs and HKEX’s Consultation on Reforms to Increase Competitiveness at 5:00pm-6:00pm on 13 April 2026.
Accreditation for 1 CPD point has been applied for.
About the Webinar
Hong Kong’s IPO market experienced an unprecedented boom in 2025, with the HKEX receiving over 500 new listing applications and reclaiming its position as the world’s leading IPO venue. However, this surge in deal flow exposed serious concerns regarding the quality of listing applications, sponsor standards, and the capacity of transaction teams.
This webinar provides an in-depth examination of the regulatory response from both the SFC and HKEX, including the joint letter to sponsors in December 2025, the SFC Sponsor Circular of 30 January 2026 imposing new obligations on sponsors, and the HKEX’s major consultation paper published on 13 March 2026 with proposals aimed at strengthening sponsor accountability while enhancing Hong Kong’s competitiveness as an international listing venue.
Key highlights include:
- The SFC and HKEX joint letter to 13 sponsors in December 2025 highlighting deficiencies in listing documents and sponsor conduct
- The SFC Sponsor Circular of 30 January 2026 – five principal areas of concern, new principal capacity benchmark (maximum of five active listings per Principal), enhanced examination requirements (HKSI LE Papers 1 and 16), immediate reporting obligations, internal reviews and rectification plans
- On-site thematic inspections, enforcement actions and management accountability
- The HKEX Consultation Paper of 13 March 2026 – competitive reforms to weighted voting rights (WVR), specialist technology companies and secondary listings
- Introduction of confidential filing for all applicants
- The strengthened return mechanism – a naming and shaming regime publicly identifying all professional parties (sponsors, legal advisers, reporting accountants, auditors, industry consultants and other experts) involved in returned listing applications
- Key insights and statistics from the HKEX’s 2025 Listing Committee Report
- Enrolment is limited – registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
- Please note that we accept no liability for any non-availability for any CPD Point(s) for any participants whatsoever.