A year has passed, and the "approval" of ant group IPO has expired! Re-listing needs to be re-"queued"

China Times (www.chinatimes.net.cn) reporters Ma Xiaochao and Chen Feng reported in Beijing

A year ago, on October 20, a major event occurred on the Star Market: the CsrC officially issued a reply on approving the registration of the initial public offering of shares of Ant Technology Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Ant Group").

However, soon after, Ant Group, which received the above-mentioned IPO "approval", suspended its listing on the Science and Technology Innovation Board.

Now, after a full year of the CSRC's agreement to register, Ant Group's "approval document" has expired. On October 19, 2021, a reporter from China Times contacted Ant Group to inquire about the IPO arrangement, but did not receive a reply.

Re-listing needs to be re-"queued"

After Ant Group received the approval of the CSRC on October 20, 2020, the listing process advanced very quickly.

According to the plan, the company will be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Sci-Tech Innovation Board on November 5, 2020, 15 days later, after the issue price has been determined on the evening of October 24, 68.8 yuan per share, and the online winning investor has completed the payment on November 2, 2020.

But two days before the listing, on the evening of November 3, 2020, the accident came.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange notice disclosed by Ant Group on the same day showed that the latter said in the notice: "Recently, the actual controller, chairman and general manager of your company were jointly interviewed by relevant departments, and your company also reported major matters such as changes in the financial technology regulatory environment. This material event may result in your company not meeting the listing conditions or information disclosure requirements. In accordance with Article 26 of the Administrative Measures for the Registration of Initial Public Offerings of Shares on the Science and Technology Innovation Board (Trial Implementation) and Article 60 of the Rules for the Review of the Issuance and Listing of Shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and in consultation with the sponsoring institutions, the Firm has decided to suspend the listing of your company. ”

Ant Group soon launched the refund procedure and made the following statement on the arrangement after the suspension of the IPO: After the suspension of the issuance, Ant Group will decide whether to restart the offering and announce it in a timely manner on the basis of full verification and evaluation of the relevant post-meeting matters during the validity period of the approval of the registration of the initial public offering of shares.

"China Times" reported last year that the above-mentioned IPO "approval" is valid for one year, and the relevant laws and regulations are based on the "Administrative Measures for the Registration of Initial Public Offerings of Shares on the Science and Technology Innovation Board (Trial)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Administrative Measures for the Registration of the Science and Technology Innovation Board").

Article 25 stipulates that "the CSRC's decision to agree to registration shall be valid for one year from the date of its making, and the issuer shall issue shares within the validity period of the registration decision, and the time of issuance shall be chosen by the issuer".

This means that as of October 20, 2021, the validity period of Ant Group's IPO "approval" has expired.

In this regard, Wang Jiyue, a former head brokerage sponsor representative and a senior investment banker, pointed out that the expiration means that it is impossible to restart the issuance, and Ant Group needs to reapply for review if it wants to think about A-share IPOs.

Fintech classified as "restricted"

Ant Group did not reply to this reporter's question about the future IPO trend.

Compared with before Ant Group applied for listing, in addition to the major changes in the regulatory environment of the domestic financial technology industry, the listing policy of the Science and Technology Innovation Board has also changed.

In April 2021, the CSRC revised and promulgated the Guidelines for the Evaluation of The Attributes of Science and Technology Innovation (trial implementation) (hereinafter referred to as the "Guidelines"), and the SSE also revised and issued the Interim Provisions on the Issuance and Listing Declaration and Recommendation of Enterprises on the Science and Technology Innovation Board (hereinafter referred to as the "Interim Provisions").

Among them, the CSRC pointed out in the relevant announcement that it is necessary to define the industry areas of the science and technology innovation board according to the classification of support, restriction and prohibition, and establish a negative list system.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange, in the revised Interim Provisions, clarifies that fintech and model innovation enterprises are restricted from issuing and listing on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, and real estate and enterprises mainly engaged in financial and investment business are prohibited from issuing and listing on the Science and Technology Innovation Board.

For financial technology and model innovation enterprises to be classified into the "restricted category", Wang Jiyue told the "China Times" reporter that in his view, the so-called "restricted category" is not necessarily unable to be listed on the science and technology innovation board, but it needs to be communicated in advance (and supervision), "not prohibited, but in principle can not."

Also in April, JD Digital, formerly known as JD Finance, withdrew its listing application from the Sci-Tech Innovation Board, which also reflected the changes in the regulatory environment of the industry and the listing policy of the Sci-Tech Innovation Board to a certain extent.

When introducing the background of the revision of the Guidelines, the CSRC pointed out that the "hard technology" and market inclusiveness of the science and technology innovation board have gradually emerged, but a small number of enterprises that have declared and are under review have also appeared the problems of lack of core technology, insufficient scientific and technological innovation capabilities, and low market recognition, which need to be further studied and improved in combination with scientific and technological innovation and registration system reform practice.

"The general idea of improving the evaluation index system of science and technology innovation attributes this time is: focus on supporting the core goal of 'hard science and technology', highlight the substance over the form, implement classification treatment and negative list management, further enrich the evaluation indicators of science and technology attributes and strengthen comprehensive research and judgment." Consolidate the responsibilities of intermediary institutions, strengthen the supervision and inspection of the implementation of institutional rules, and improve the quality of listed companies on the Science and Technology Innovation Board from the source. The SFC said.

Finally, in addition to the addition of the above-mentioned "restricted" and "prohibited" contents, the revised Guidelines also include three aspects: first, the conventional indicators of the proportion of new R&D personnel accounting for more than 10% to fully reflect the core role of scientific and technological talents in innovation; second, in the work rules of the Advisory Committee, improve the expert database and solicitation system to form a regulatory synergy; third, in the issuance and listing review, in accordance with the principle of substance over form, focus on whether the issuer's self-assessment is objective. The sponsoring institution checks whether the attributes of science and technology are sufficient and makes a comprehensive judgment.

Editor: Yan Hui Editor-in-chief: Xia Shencha