Submission Related Matters

Yes. The sequence of the headline categories selected will be displayed on ESS. You should prioritize and preview the order of your chosen Tier 2 headline categories before approving the submission for publication.

In general, when submitting a document through ESS for publication, the issuer must select all such headlines as may be appropriate from the list of headlines set out in the “Headline Categories” published on the Exchange’s website.

An issuer should make best efforts to choose headlines that applies to the information submitted for publication. However, if you have any questions on the selection of headline categories you can contact a case officer in HKEX Listing Division (refer to the HKEX website at https://www.hkex.com.hk/listing/rules-and-guidance/other-resources/listed-issuers/contact-persons-in-hkex-listing-department-for-listed-companies?sc_lang=en).

If you wish to submit information for publication out of office hours and a Listing Division case officer is not available, you should select the headline categories that you think are most appropriate. You may refer to the Guide on Selection of Headline and Title of Documents under Electronic Disclosure published on the HKEX website at https://www.hkex.com.hk/-/media/HKEX-Market/Listing/Rules-and-Guidance/Other-Resources/Listed-Issuers/Practices-and-Procedures-for-Handling-Listing-related-Matters/aii_headline_selection.pdf.

It is the responsibility of an issuer to ensure that all appropriate headlines are selected. If you have selected incorrect headline categories, you can amend those headline categories once within 5 calendar days of publication via the “Correct Headline Categories of Published Document” function.

If your submission is related to the announcement forms, Return e-Forms or documents on display, you will not able to make headline amendment through this function. You may contact our ESS hotline (+852 2840 3460) to discuss appropriate arrangements.

If 5 calendar days have elapsed after publication of a document or if you want to amend the published headline(s) for a second time, you should write to the Primary Market Information of HKEX to request a change to the headlines categories of that submission. This written request must set out what changes need to be made together with an explanation as to how the error came about. You may contact our ESS hotline (+852 2840 3460) to discuss appropriate arrangements. Any agreed changes will then be effected by HKEX.

The original submission will remain viewable on the HKEXnews website. The headline categories of this submission will be clearly prefixed with the words “Cancelled since Headlines Superseded and Replaced”.

At the same time, a new publication entry showing the revised headlines will appear on the HKEXnews website. This new publication entry will be clearly prefixed with the words “Headlines Revised”. The documents and titles of the new publication will be identical to the original submission.

All fields in ESS should be completed in English except for the “Chinese Title” and the “Chinese Company Name”. The Chinese Title (including the Chapter Titles of document in multiple-files format) field accepts traditional Chinese characters only.

The English Title field accepts English keyboard characters only. Certain currency symbols (for example £, ¥, €), fractions and other special non-keyboard characters are not accepted. You can consider an alternative wording of these characters such as Pounds, Yen and Euro.

Use of English and Traditional Chinese characters (as opposed to simplified Chinese characters) is consistent with HKEX current practice with regard to the publication of issuers’ announcements and other documents. For this reason, only traditional Chinese characters are used in ESS (i.e. display and input).

Document can be submitted in a single language where permitted by the Listing Rules. The types of document where single language publication is usually permitted include overseas regulatory announcements, the trading reports and pre-listing reports of structured product issuers.

The Listing Rules usually require that, for documents where both English and Chinese versions must be published, both language versions be submitted for publication simultaneously. However, Annual Reports or Listing Documents can be published in two separate language submissions, one after the other.

You can submit a bilingual document for publication and you do not need to separate a bilingual document into a purely English and a purely Chinese language version.

However, you should submit a copy of a bilingual document under an English title on one submission and the same copy of the bilingual document under a Chinese title on a separate submission. This is to ensure the document can be published on both language versions of the HKEXnews website.

Equity issuers and agents acting on their behalf should use the “Stock Code of Related Issuer(s)” field if the issuer wishes to make a joint announcement with another issuer. Issuers and their agents should also use the “Stock Code of Related Issuer(s)” field to input the stock code of a subsidiary or parent listed company if the announcement relates to both entities. In this circumstance, issuers must ensure that its “Related Stock Code List” has been updated before using the “Stock Code of Related Issuer(s)” field.

In the case of an issuer which is adopting multiple counter trading (for example, the HKD-RMB dual counter model), it must include the stock code of the multiple counter(s).

Issuers of debt securities, ETPs or structured products and their agents must always use the “Stock Code of Related Issuer(s)” field to indicate which of its listed debt or products are relevant to the announcement. If no “Stock Code of Related Issuer(s)” is inputted, the announcement will be published on the HKEXnews website without a stock name. However, it is not necessary for a structured product issuer and its agent to input the stock code(s) of any underlying stock of its structured product into the “Stock Code of Related Issuer(s)” field.

If an announcement is published on the HKEXnews website without a stock code, it is still possible to find that announcement by searching on the date (or date range) of its release, by searching on the headline category or by a content search of the announcement.

The “Related Stock Code List” is a list of stock codes maintained by listed issuers in ESS for their related listed issuers and listed securities. This list is introduced for validation purpose when a listed issuer or its agent submits documents that may relate to another listed issuers and/or its relevant listed securities so as to help listed issuers (except for debt and structured product issuers) and their agents to minimize the risk of input error in the “Stock Code of Related Issuer(s)” field. When the stock codes entered in the “Stock Code of Related Issuer(s)” field do not match with those in the “Related Stock Code List”, the submission cannot proceed until correction is made to the stock code either in the “Stock Code of Related Issuer(s)” field or the “Related Stock Code List”, where appropriate.

An issuer’s “Related Stock Code List” can only be viewed and edited by its Administrator. Instruction on how to maintain the “Related Stock Code List” can be found in the User Manual for Authorised Person, Administrator, Security Officer and DI Users.

No. The “Related Stock Code List” will only be applicable to equity issuers and Exchange Traded Products issuers. For the avoidance of doubt, the “Related Stock Code List” will not be applicable to debt and structured product issuers.

No. Only one of the issuers needs to submit the announcement for publication. The issuer that makes the announcement (Issuer A) shall input the stock code of the other issuer (Issuer B) as a “Stock Code of Related Issuer(s)” when the submission details are entered into ESS.

However, if the “Stock Code of Related Issuer(s)” field is not completed, each issuer must separately submit the announcement for publication.

Yes. An issuer must receive consent, preferably in writing, from another issuer before inputting its stock code into the “Stock Code of Related Issuer(s)” field. Evidence supporting this consent must be made available to the HKEX upon request.

An equity issuer should update the “Related Stock Code List” before the issuer or its agent can use the “Stock Code of Related Issuer(s)” field for making a joint announcement with another listed issuer. This also applies to making a general announcement in relation to other related listed securities by an equity or Exchange Traded Products issuer.

ESS will not process the submission if the stock code entered into the “Stock Code of Related Issuer(s)” field does not match with those in the “Related Stock Code List”. Issuers have to correct the code either in the “Stock Code of Related Issuer(s)” field or to update the “Related Stock Code List”, where appropriate. If you are an agent acting on behalf of issuers, you should first check whether the inputted stock code is correct. If it is a correct stock code, you should contact the issuer immediately for the issuer’s Administrator to update the “Related Stock Code List” accordingly. If issuer’s Administrator does not update the “Related Stock Code List” in a timely manner, each issuer of the joint announcement must submit for publication separately.

It is the issuer’s responsibility to ensure that details inputted into ESS for publication on the HKEXnews website are complete and accurate. Although updates to the “Related Stock Code List” will become effective immediately when the list is successfully saved, issuers should have proper procedures to allow its Administrator to review and update the “Related Stock Code List” in a timely manner.

Yes. By clicking the “Add” button next to the Stock Code of Related Issuer(s)” field on the submission details page, you can add up to 30 related stock codes in each submission. If you are structured product issuers, you can add up to 50 related stock codes in each submission.

Yes. The maximum number of characters permitted is 500 for both English and Chinese titles.

The submitter can set a self-defined passcode to ensure the submission information can only be accessible by the users who have possession of the self-defined passcode which provides an additional level of access control. This is an optional field.

ESS users should make these passcodes available to those users who need to access to submissions for publication according to its own internal control procedure.

No. The self-defined passcode will be removed automatically once the submission is approved.

Yes. Once you have inputted the submission details (with or without uploading files), you can save the submission (by clicking “Save”) for later editing.

No. You should notify your approver to reject the submission. After the submission has been rejected, you can retrieve the submission for amendment. For avoidance of doubt, the approved submission cannot be amended.

After clicking “Submit” button, it means the submitter has completed preparation of a submission and has the submission saved in ESS. Note that the submission at this stage still requires approval from the approver in order to submit it for publication on the HKEXnews website.

After clicking “Submit and Approve” button, it means the submitter has completed preparation of a submission and is waiting for an immediate approval from the approver in order to submit it for publication on the HKEXnews website.

If the submission has been approved successfully, an acknowledgement page with status “Approved” will be displayed. You should note the submission number shown on the page for future reference. You may also print this acknowledgement page for record.

ESS is not designed to be a repository of submissions. However, you can retrieve a past submission via the “View Submission History” function. If the documents had not been published yet, you could access or edit the submission details/files for past 30 days. If the documents had been published, you could only retrieve their submission records for past 120 days (past 365 days for published announcement forms, Return e-Forms and documents on display).

HKEX systems should not, for technical reasons, reject a submission prior to its release on the HKEXnews website if it has been successfully approved on ESS. However, if such an exception occurs HKEX will immediately contact the relevant issuer by telephone and may ask the issuer to re-submit the document after it rectifies the reason for its rejection. Please note that a submission will not be rejected due to its textual content.

HKEX will not vet announcements, notices or documents submitted via ESS prior to their publication. If an announcement requires pre-vetting by the Listing Division, an issuer must not submit that announcement for publication until clearance has been obtained.

The submission template is a specific function for structured products issuers. When submission template is applied, all submission detail fields will be filled according to the template, thus the review step in the submission process will be skipped.

Administrator of structured products issuers can create up to 12 submission templates. For detail instruction, please refer to the User Manual for Authorised Person, Administrator, Security Officer and DI Users.

No. Prior to publication the non-listed company’s announcement will only be accessible on ESS to the non-listed company and its agent, if an agent has made the submission for publication on the non-listed company’s behalf.

The “Appointment of Agents” function is dedicated to the Authorised Persons of listed issuers to appoint their representing agents to submit and/or approve documents on their behalf. There are two types of “Appointment of Agents” functions: (i) Appointment of Agents for Publication Related Matters and (ii) Appointment of Agents for Listing Related Matters. The Authorised Persons should depend on their situation to make necessary appointments respectively. Authorised Person can set criteria to control the submissions to be made by its appointed agents, such as the number of submissions or a time range.

For the agent company, its Authorised Person can view the list of assignments made by their clients (i.e. listed issuers) via the “Appointment of Agents” functions.

The listed issuer in concern should appoint your company through the “Appointment of Agents” function prior to any submission made on the issuer’s behalf. The Authorised Person of an agent may also check if such appointment has been made by the listed issuer via the “Appointment of Agents” function.

You should specify your representing issuer by inputting its “Company Code” in the “Company Code of Represented Issuer” field when making submissions via ESS. After you have inputted the “Company Code of Represented Issuer”, the company name of your representing issuer will be displayed for verification.

Note: Each ESS registered company (including both listed companies and non-listed companies) will be assigned with a “Company Code” upon its registration.

No. As soon as the agent inputs the stock code of the issuer that it represents into the “Company Code of Represented Issuer” field, ESS will validate the related stock codes (if any) against the “Related Stock Code List” maintained by the represented issuer. If the stock codes entered into the “Stock Code of Related Issuer(s)” field failed the related stock code validation, you should first check the stock code you are supplying is correct. If it is a correct stock code, you should contact the issuer immediately for its Administrator to update the “Related Stock Code List” accordingly.

Prior to approval for publication of the announcement, your company’s approver can reject the submission for amendment. To assist you in entering a correct stock code, ESS will display the stock short name for the inputted related stock code for reference.

If the submission has already been approved and published, you should immediately contact the ESS hotline (+852 2840 3460). HKEX will take appropriate action to ensure that the error is corrected as soon as possible. This may be achieved by cancelling the announcement made in error and requiring the issuer to re-submit the announcement.

The cancelled announcement will appear as “Cancelled and Re-issued” under the name of both the issuer and all related issuers. At the same time, as this cancellation takes place the issuer should submit for publication a corrected version of the submission through ESS. The issuer should prefix the English and Chinese titles of this submission with the word “(Revised)” (including brackets). The word “Revised” should be completed in Traditional Chinese characters in the Chinese title.

Please note that the Exchange considers publication of erroneous or misleading information a serious matter. An issuer that publishes such information may become the subject of disciplinary action under the Listing Rules.

If the document has been submitted but not yet been approved then you can correct your mistake yourself. You can amend the details of the submission (such as the headline categories and title) and, if necessary, remove an incorrectly submitted document and submit a correct version instead.

If your submission has been approved, you can still amend the headlines category of the submission within five calendar days of its publication (please refer to “Headline Categories”). If the mistake is not related to correction of headline categories, you should contact immediately the ESS hotline (+852 2840 3460).

If HKEX agrees that the publication should be corrected, HKEX will process such a correction without delay by adding an appropriate prefix the published incorrect publication (e.g. with the word “Cancelled and Re-issued”). The contents of this publication will still be viewable on the HKEXnews website.

Depending on the nature of the error, the issuer should submit a corrected version of the document through ESS for publication. The issuer should prefix the English and Chinese titles of this submission with the word “(Revised)” (including brackets).

Please note that the Exchange considers publication of erroneous or misleading information a serious matter. An issuer that publishes such information may become the subject of disciplinary action under the Listing Rules.

The issuer should make a written request to the Primary Market Information of HKEX to cancel the published document, explaining the reason for the amendments and submit a revised copy through ESS.

The cancellation of the published documents should happen only under rare circumstances, for example, where the soft copy posted on the HKEXnews website is not the same version as the hard copy of the document delivered to shareholders.

Issuers should publish the documents on display on both the HKEXnews website (through the ESS) and the issuer’s website. With effect from 4 October 2021, new headline categories have be introduced on ESS for the implementation of Online Display of Documents.

The language requirements under Main Board Rule 2.07C(4)(b) (GEM Rule 16.03) do not apply to documents on display. Issuers do not need to publish their documents on display online in both English and Chinese languages unless it is otherwise required by the Listing Rules.