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The e-interaction platform of the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) embraced its soft opening on July 5, 2013. As a communication platform available to all market participants for free, the e-interaction platform, with the participation of all sides, is also the first “Social Platform” of the securities market built up by the SSE. It will not only facilitate the “Zero-gap” contact between listed companies and investors, but also provide an innovative “Foothold” for the SSE’s market-oriented regulation.
“Zero-gap” Communication
The SSE e-interaction platform realizes the “Zero-gap” communication for investors and listed companies through building a channel for direct exchange between the two sides. This is a significant move to ensure small and medium-sized investors’ rights to be informed and to participate.
With the development of the securities market and the increasingly complicated investment environment in all these years, small and medium-sized investors’ needs to keep effective and constant communication with listed companies, in addition to information disclosure according to law, have been rising steadily. As for listed companies, the e-interaction platform will also help them to get timely messages about investors’ needs for information and public opinions online before taking prompt actions. Cases of short selling upon negative news are dramatically emerging especially in the recent period. If timely information exchange between listed companies and investors fails, accidents will be very liable to occur, thus providing opportunities for short-sellers to bring factors of instability to the whole market by taking advantage of lopsided information.
In light of the aforesaid claims, the SSE e-interaction platform will effectively connect investors and listed companies. With the help of the platform, investors will no longer remain to be passive receivers of information announced by listed companies; instead, they can directly get answers or information needed from listed companies through the basic services and a variety of business innovations on the platform. On the other hand, listed companies may also explain the disclosed issues in lucid words through the platform, thus helping investors to get an all-round understanding of the relevant information.
The SSE e-interaction platform has provided an array of services for investors. Before registration, investors may surf websites, search for information, and forward on third party platforms (such as Sina Micro-blog or Tencent Micro-blog) through the e-interaction platform. As for registered investors, the platform provides more services and functions including following other users on the platform, automatically receiving latest information about those followed, putting forward consultations and suggestions to listed companies as well as reviewing their feedbacks at any time, and participating in online interviews.
Compared with the traditional interaction businesses, the SSE e-interaction platform offers more “novelties” for iPhone/Android handphone and iPad, and Wechat (a service provided by Tencent). Besides, the platform has also added various forms of information releases and content exchanges including “Interaction Observers”, “SSE E-interviews”, “Online Briefing”, as well as “SSE's Releases” and “Listed Companies’ Releases”, so that investors can raise questions to listed companies at any time on their computers or handphones, and get information from the multiple “Outlets” offered by the platform.
Three Points to Guide Rational Investment
In fact, not only does the SSE E-interaction Platform set up a channel for communication but also represents the innovation in three aspects, namely, inviting and introducing some analysts and media reporters to publish comments and ideas and share research results independently as “Interaction Observers”, requiring listed companies to collect and release the surveys of institutions, the interviews of the media, and other Q&A records every month, and setting the activity section of “SSE E-interview” to regularly interview specially invited guests such as executives of listed companies, analysts or industry experts as well as investors with significant research results on the platform.
By introducing the participation of all the securities market players, the platform will promote the “brainstorm” and give full play to the role of self-education and mutual education among the users of the platform, so as to enable the small and medium-sized investors to learn about the questions concerned by institutions and the professionals’ ways of studying companies more through specific events and real cases, instead of the traditional "preaching", as well as be unconsciously influenced and guided in forming the habit of rational investment, instead of blindness, speculation and hyping, and improving the ability of making investment decisions through more studying, researching, and comparing.
In addition, the platform has set up the special network for the 954 SSE-listed companies providing the companies’ data such as company profiles, announcements, dividend distribution and allotment of shares, as well as the market information while encouraging the listed companies to take the initiative to disclose the information below the standards of legal disclosure on the platform and opening the road show center to encourage the companies to regularly hold the briefings for performance and other issues, which will also provide investors with abundant information and a convenient channel for learning about the companies, analyzing the companies, and taking rational participation.
Significant Initiative in Exploring Market-oriented Regulation
The SSE e-interaction platform is an innovation as well as a “Measure” of the SSE in exploring the market-oriented regulatory modes and developing the all-people oversight mechanisms. After the official implementation of the SSE direct channel for information disclosure, the regulators of the SSE have centralized and integrated the regulatory resources and changed the focus to the “Aftermath Regulation”. The interaction information between investors and listed companies on the platform will help the regulators of the SSE to timely learn about the market responses, the issues concerned by investors, the questions occurring in surveys, and other issues, so as to enable the regulators to respond rapidly, select important clues for regulation, take relevant regulatory measures, and improve the effectiveness of regulation over companies. The platform is also an important part of the SSE’s efforts in transforming the regulatory concepts and shifting the regulatory modes.
It is worth noting that in recent years, while opening new channels of access to information, the micro-blog, Wechat, and other social media have also brought about the releasing of undisclosed information of listed companies, spreading rumors, and other irregularities. To avoid unfair information disclosure on the platform, the SSE has restricted the scope of information released on the platform by explicitly requiring listed companies not to release important undisclosed information on the platform.
Not long ago, the SSE issued the “Implementation Measures for Disciplinary Sanction and Regulatory Measures” in a bid to intensify the “In-process and Aftermath Regulation” and push forward the “Openness of Rules, Processes, and Results”. After launching the e-interaction platform, conducting the relevant work based on the above-mentioned rules and regulatory concepts, the SSE will seriously crack down on the listed companies leaking important undisclosed information and take regulatory measures and impose disciplinary sanctions according to the cases.
According to an official of the SSE, after getting the platform on line, the SSE will continue to improve the functions, innovate the interactive forms, and expand the scope of application, so as to enable more market players to make full use of the convenient communication channel. The SSE welcomes the market participants finding information, seeking convenience, achieving guidance, and receiving suggestions on the platform on the basis of their own demands. Adhering to the concept of “Equal Emphasis on Regulation and Service”, the SSE will provide all market players with more complete and more effective services.
