The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) today announces the cessation of the suspension of Changjiang Corporate Finance (HK) Limited (CJCF) to act as a sponsor for listing applications on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (SEHK).
The licence, which allows CJCF to act as a sponsor, was suspended for one year or until the SFC is satisfied that the controls and procedures of CJCF’s sponsor-related business are adequate for ensuring compliance with the relevant legal and regulatory requirements, whichever is later. The suspension of CJCF’s licence was part of the SFC’s disciplinary action against the firm for failing to discharge its obligations as sponsor of six listing applications it submitted between September 2015 and December 2017 (Note 1).
As agreed with the SFC, CJCF engaged and cooperated with an independent reviewer to review its policies, procedures and practices in relation to the conduct of its sponsorship business.
The reviewer conducted a nine-month, two-staged review of CJCF’s processes in carrying out sponsorship business. The first stage involved a review of CJCF’s current internal systems and controls, an appraisal of the records of its sponsor work, as well as an assessment of its sponsor work in three listing applications, with the objective of ascertaining whether the current policies and procedures were adequate and whether there had been any instances of non-compliance.
Following the first stage of the review, the reviewer made recommendations in relation to CJCF’s internal systems and controls. Subsequently, the reviewer confirmed in the second stage of the review that CJCF had implemented the recommendations.
In arriving at the decision to end the suspension, the SFC has assessed the reviewer’s findings of CJCF, including the supporting documents for its findings. The SFC is also satisfied that CJCF has clear requirements and procedures in place to enable staff members to understand and properly perform their responsibilities, and that there are adequate systems, controls, policies and procedures to enable compliance with all applicable Hong Kong legal and regulatory requirements in relation to CJCF’s sponsor business.
Note:
- Please refer to the SFC’s press release dated 21 August 2023.
