Getting Started for individual investors

Investors need to trade Hong Kong securities and derivative products through Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) licensed persons or registered institutions. Investors may refer to the "Public Register of Licensed Persons and Registered Institutions" at the SFC website (www.sfc.hk) for the list of licensed persons and the regulated activities they are licensed to conduct.

If a licensed person or registered institution is an Exchange Participant, its trading facilities can have direct access to HKEX's trading facilities. A list of Exchange Participants is available at “Participant Information” of “Find a Partner” under “PRODUCTS” of the HKEX website.

When selecting a securities or futures company, investor should compare services and fees of different companies.  Companies who provide in-depth research, investment advice or other value-added services may charge higher commissions than those which merely trade on behalf of clients. Some offer cash accounts only; others also manage discretionary accounts or margin accounts. Investors should weight their own investment and financial needs carefully before deciding on a securities or futures company and the type of accounts to be opened.

HKEX operates securities and derivatives markets that are open and free and welcomes the participation of investors from all over the world. However, overseas investors should comply with regulations governing overseas trading in their own countries or places of residence before trading in Hong Kong.

When opening a securities or futures account, investors are required to fill in an application form and sign a client's agreement. Requirements relating to basic information in a client's agreement including specific risk disclosure statements are set out in the Code of Conduct for the Persons Licensed by or Registered with the SFC.

As the client's agreement is legally binding, investors should only sign it when they are sure that all information is correct. When in doubt, they must seek legal advice.

In their own interest, investors should open accounts with securities or futures companies in person, and before dealing in securities or futures, they should make sure that they know the due day for settlement and the basis on which commission, interest and other charges are calculated. To protect market interests, securities or futures companies may require prospective clients to provide reference letters. They may accept only investors with references from existing clients or the companies' acquaintances to ensure prospective clients' capability to meet the obligations of share transactions.

Main Board and GEM listed companies are required to post their annual reports, interim reports and financial statements on the HKEXnews and GEM websites for public viewing when they dispatch these corporate communications to shareholders. The documents shall also be posted on the listed companies’ websites for at least five years.

Provided that the listed companies have ascertained the wishes of shareholders and complied with legal requirements and provisions of their own memorandum and articles of association, they are permitted to distribute summary financial reports in place of full annual reports. They may also make available to shareholders the annual reports in Chinese or English only and using electronic means or in a printed copy. However, shareholders of a company who choose to receive summary financial reports are entitled to request a full annual report.  Shareholders who choose to receive annual reports in electronic format are entitled to request a printed copy.  Shareholders who request a full annual report or a printed copy of the annual report should be promptly sent one free of charge.

Investors can check the list of directors from a listed company’s annual report or latest announcements or circulars. They can also download the list or search by stock code, listed company’s name or director’s name from the List of Directors under the Issuer-related Information section on the HKEXnews website.

For the list of shareholders, any individual and shareholders of a listed company may inspect the register of members (ROM) at the share registrar of the listed company. The registered shareholders’ inspection is free of charge, while non-registered shareholders will have to pay a service charge to the share registrar for every inspection.

Investors should note that at present over 70 per cent of shares on the market in quantity terms are deposited into HKEX’s Central Clearing and Settlement System (CCASS) and all the shares held in CCASS are registered in the name of HKSCC Nominees Limited, a wholly-owned member of the HKEX group. Therefore, HKSCC Nominees Limited appears as one of the major shareholders on the ROM of most Hong Kong-listed companies. To increase market transparency, HKEX introduced a new online CCASS Shareholding Disclosure service on 28 April 2008. With the new service, the public is able to look up the total number of shares held in a company listed in Hong Kong on a specified date in the past year by each CCASS Participant and Investor Participant who has consented to the disclosure by entering the date and the company’s stock code in the CCASS Shareholding Search on the HKEXnews website.

Furthermore, in accordance with Part XV of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO), any individual holding a 5 per cent interest or more in a listed company is regarded as a substantial shareholder and required to inform the market through the Stock Exchange within three business days of any transaction resulting in a change in his/her shareholding of a ratio that crosses a certain whole percentage number. Besides, directors and chief executives of a listed company must disclose their interests in accordance with Part XV of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO). Investors can refer to Disclosure of Interests under the Shareholding Disclosures section on the HKEXnews website for the information.

HKEX operates electronic filing systems for the submission of completed disclosure of interests (DI) forms and publishes the disclosure information filed with it on the HKEXnews website in accordance with the requirements of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC).

The SFC has published an outline of Part XV of the SFO, which gives extensive guidance on the situations in which a DI notice will have to be filed, and related matters. Please refer to the outline on the SFC website at www.sfc.hk under Rules and standards/Securities and Futures Ordinance Part XV - Disclosure of Interests. Investors may also refer to the directions and instructions on completion of each form which give detailed advice on completing each box on each form and many examples. The SFO is a statutory regulation implemented by the SFC and HKEX is not in the position to advise on the related requirements. Investors with further enquiries about individual disclosure filings should consult the relevant listed company or professional advisers.

Investors can access information about listed companies via the following channels:

• The Latest Listed Company Information section on the HKEXnews website and the Latest Company Announcements section on the GEM website. They may also search for announcements or documents of listed companies from the Listed Company Information section on the HKEXnews website.
• Websites of listed companies
• News reports
• Subscribe for information services from information vendors using the Issuer Information Feed, or IIS

Registered shareholders will receive corporate communications from listed companies, for example, financial statements and circulars to shareholders. They may select to receive corporate communications electronically while retaining the right to change their minds. They may also select to receive printed copies in both Chinese and English languages or in a single language. In addition, they may select to receive full annual reports or full interim reports; otherwise, only summary financial reports or summary interim reports (as the case may be) may be offered. 

Listed companies are required to publish their documents on the HKEXnews website via HKEX's e-submission system (ESS). The operational hours of the ESS are between 6:00 am and 11:00 pm every business day, and between 
6:00 pm and 8:00 pm on a non-business day immediately preceding a business day. However, there are different publication windows for different types of documents to be published on the HKEXnews website. The arrangements are as follows:

• Subject to certain limited types of announcements that can be published at all times during the operational hours of ESS (note), Announcements and Notices can be published during the following publication windows:
   
  
              On a normal business day:

  • 6:00 am to 8:30 am
  • 12:00 noon to 12:30 pm
  • 4:30 pm to 11:00 pm
    
    On the eves of Christmas, New Year and Lunar New Year when there is no afternoon session: 
  • 6:00 am to 8:30 am
  • 12:30 pm to 11:00 pm
    
    On a non-business day preceding a business day:
  • 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
    
    (Note: These types of announcements include
  • trading halt or suspension announcements;
  • announcements that relate to a clarification of news reports or unusual price/turnover movements (classified as “standard” or “super”); and
  • overseas regulatory announcements.)
    
    
• Other types of listed companies' documents, such as circulars and annual reports, can be submitted during the operational hours of ESS and they will be published directly on the HKEX website.

Documents published by listed companies through HKEX's ESS are available at the Latest Listed Company Information section on the HKEXnews website and the Latest Company Announcements section on the GEM website.

Investors can register at the “News Alerts” section under the “MARKET DATA” of the HKEX website for HKEX's free news alert service, which provides listed company information. The news alert service will notify registered users by email of any announcements or disclosure of interests filings submitted by or relating to the Hong Kong-listed companies they choose. 

The number of securities that can be selected for each account is 20.  Alerts on listed company information are sent every 30 minutes from 6:30 am to 12 midnight on each trading day, whereas alerts on disclosure of interests notices are sent at 5:30 pm on trading days.

HKEX provides the email service free of charge, but users who wish to receive mobile phone text message alerts must check with their mobile phone service providers about text message service availability and possible fees. The Registration page on the HKEX website provides the list of mobile carriers that offer text message services.

Hong Kong Investors without access to the Internet can obtain listed company information via the following:

• Public libraries: all public libraries in Hong Kong provide free Internet access to library users;
• HKEX’s Public Viewing Room at 1/F, One and Two Exchange Square in Central: the Public Viewing Room houses desktop computers with which investors can search and view issuers’ announcements, notices and other documents published on the HKEX website, and browse the SFC website.  The area is open between 9:30 am and 5:00 pm on the trading days of HKEX’s securities and derivatives markets;
• Reports by news media on listed companies’ announcements; and
• Advisory services provided by securities brokerages: investors can always check with their brokers for the latest news from listed companies.

HKEX enhanced its website and related systems before the implementation of the Electronic Disclosure Project on 25 June 2007, and it has installed a back-up system and developed disaster recovery arrangements to ensure business continuity. Before implementation of the project, HKEX performed a series of tests and invited related parties (including listed companies, their agents and information vendors) to participate in the testing and familiarisation sessions.

If there is a double failure of the HKEX website and its back-up website systems, HKEX has made arrangements to disseminate information on listed company announcements on a third party’s website. HKEX will announce the website when necessary. Furthermore, listed companies are required under the Listing Rules to publish their announcements on their own websites, in addition to publishing them on the HKEXnews website. Therefore, investors can access listed companies’ latest announcements through the companies’ own websites if the HKEX website fails to provide service.

Moreover, various Internet service providers have been engaged to minimise any negative impact on the HKEX website of the sub-par performance of any single service provider, to ensure stable website service for the public.

In cases of widespread Internet access problems in Hong Kong, the impact would not only be limited to the dissemination of issuer information. Various aspects of market operations would also be affected. HKEX may then have to invoke contingency measures and inform market participants and the public of the arrangements through any available channels.

Investors wishing contact a listed company may refer to the share registrar for the address and contact details of a listed company. 

The share registrar is a company employed by a listed company to maintain a registrar of its shareholders in Hong Kong, and handle transfers of physical shares and investors' enquiries, etc. Share registrars' services include dispatching corporate communications including financial reports and shareholders circulars on behalf of listed companies, to registered shareholders, distributing cash and scrip dividends, handling claims for uncollected benefits, share transfers and issuing replacement certificates.

The information of the share registrar of a listed company is available at the “List of Equities Securities” in “Equities” under the section headed “PRODUCTS” on the HKEX website. Investors may enter a stock code on the left hand side to narrow down the results and click onto the respective company name to obtain relevant information.  Investors may also refer to the annual report of a listed company for the address or ask the telephone company for its telephone number. 

The List of Equities Securities at the HKEX website also provides company information, including the name of the chairman and address of the principal office. Without a listed company's authorisation, HKEX cannot divulge the company's other contact details.