China will eliminate approval requirements for initial public offerings within two years, as it seeks to ease the logjam that has led to multi-year equity fundraising queues.
中国将在两年内取消首次公开发行(IPO)审批规定,希望缓解多年新股发行排队的僵局。
Streamlining the IPO process is seen as crucial to improving capital allocation by allowing promising young companies to raise capital more easily. China’s bourses are still largely populated by state-owned companies whose political connections helped them to navigate the listing process.
简化新股发行过程被视为对于改善资金配置至关重要,这使得具备潜力的年轻企业得以更容易地融资。中国证交所仍基本上由国有企业主宰,它们的政治人脉帮助它们驾驭发行过程。
Some 674 companies were awaiting IPO approval as of earlier this month, according to a list published by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, which handles the process.
根据负责新股发行的中国证监会(CSRC)公布的一份名单,本月早些时候,大约有674家公司等待IPO审批。
The agency’s approval authority has also created incentives for corruption, as the fate of stock sales worth billions rests with low-paid bureaucrats. At least three CSRC officials involved in IPO approvals have been arrested this year.
中国证监会的审批权力还构成了腐败诱因,价值数十亿美元的股票发行的命运掌握在薪资低廉的官员手中。今年至少有3名参与新股发行审批的证监会官员被捕。
“The flaws and shortcoming of the approval system have gradually revealed themselves,” the CSRC said late on Wednesday, adding that the move to a registration system would encourage the “formation of the market’s self-discipline mechanism”. But the agency also cautioned that the transition could not occur all at once and would proceed in steps.
周三晚,中国证监会表示:“核准制的缺陷和不足逐步显现,”证监会补充称,推进注册制将有利于“形成市场自我约束机制”。但证监会还警告称,“注册制改革是一个循序渐进的过程,不会一步到位。”
Under the registration system, the CSRC would devolve authority to the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, which would focus on enforcing disclosure requirements but would not interfere with pricing and timing of IPOs.
根据注册制度,证监会将把权力移交给沪深证交所,交易所将把主要精力放在执行披露要求上,不干预定价和上市时间。
Top Communist party leaders pledged to shift to approval registration as part of a landmark reform plan approved in November 2013, but progress has been slow.
作为2013年11月批准的一项具有里程碑意义的改革计划的一部分,中国共产党最高领导层承诺将转向审批注册制,但进展缓慢。
The move would eliminate an important tool that regulators have used to influence market sentiment. A complete relinquishing of government control over the flow of listings could lead to a flood of new offerings.
此举将取消监管机构用来影响市场人气的一个重要工具。彻底放弃政府对上市节奏的控制可能会导致新股大规模扩容。
Chinese investors often complain that IPOs siphon demand away from existing shares.
中国投资者经常抱怨称,新股发行会削弱对现有股票的需求。
The CSRC suspended IPOs entirely during the summer stock market rout before restarting approvals last month. A previous freeze beginning in late 2012 lasted more than a year.
在今年夏季股市暴跌期间,证监会完全叫停了新股发行,上月重启了新股发行审批。上一次冻结新股发行是从2012年末开始的,持续了一年多。
Partial deregulation could come sooner than two years. The National People’s Congress, China’s legislature, must approve changes to the Securities Law submitted by the State Council, China’s cabinet. But the official Shanghai Securities News reported late on Wednesday that a version of the registration system could take effect before the legislative change is complete.
可能不用等到两年以后,管制就将部分放松。中国国务院提交的《证券法》修订案必须得到中国立法机构全国人大的批准。但官方的《上海证券报》周三晚报道称,注册制可能会在立法修订完成前实施。
When the CSRC lifted the IPO suspension last month, the agency said 28 companies would be allowed to move ahead with their offerings before the end of 2015. Since then, 11 companies have raised Rmb4.2bn ($652m) in Shanghai and Shenzhen.
在证监会上月重启IPO时,证监会表示,有28家公司将在今年年底前完成发行。此后,有11家公司在沪深两市融资42亿元人民币(合6.52亿美元)。