SSE Announces List of Regulation and Service Matters to Promote "Transparent Supervision and Customer-friendly Services"
In order to thoroughly implement the new securities law, effectively carry out the requirements in “streamlining procedures, delegating power, and improving services”, and comprehensively enhance the transparency of supervision and services, the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) has recently summarized and compiled a list of matters concerning self-regulation and market services, which has been announced to the public. At the same time, in accordance with the principles of "open standards, concise rules, customer-friendly services", the SSE has continued to formulate, revise, and abolish business rules, constantly optimized the system of rules, disclosed regulatory standards, and streamlined the handling procedures. Releasing matters concerning self-regulation and market service as well as handling basis in the market aims to completely eliminate possible problems such as "pocket policies"(i.e. policies not published or clearly defined as if hidden in the pocket) and "hidden thresholds", promote "sunshine supervision and transparent regulation", and provide market participants with convenience for business and stable expectations.
Fully disclosing the “list of responsibilities”, and enhancing the transparency of regulation and services
In the process of compiling the list of matters concerning self-regulation and market services, the SSE focused on clarifying the types, nature and reference for the matters based on the main line of responsibility positioning and functional attributes of the exchange established by the new Securities Law. For the self-regulatory matters, emphasis has been placed on improving and disclosing regulatory standards to achieve scientific and precise supervision, and fully guaranteeing the legitimate rights and interests of the supervised; for the matters concerning market services, it is required that full convenience should be provided for those serviced by cutting red tape, improving timeliness and efficiency, and disclosing the handling procedures and requirements for materials. The systematic review clarifies a total of 42 matters concerning self-regulation and market services. Among them, there are 18 self-regulatory matters, involving five types of securities issuance and listing regulation, continuous regulation of securities, securities trading regulation, membership regulation, and self-discipline management and relief; there are 24 matters concerning market services, involving five types of securities issuance and listing services, securities trading services, member services, listed company services, and options and fund services. The SSE has also listed the main rules and basis for each matter so as to facilitate the inquiry and use by market participants. The complete list can be found at the section of “Matters Concerning Self-regulation and Market Services” under the “Rules” on the official website of the SSE (http://www.sse.com.cn). Going forward, the SSE will dynamically update the list of matters concerning self-regulation and market services based on market and business developments.
Streamlining procedure requirements, and improving service convenience and friendliness
While summarizing and disclosing matters concerning market services, the SSE has evaluated the handling standards and procedures for the matters, and focused on optimizing the handling procedures and streamlining conditions for handling and requirements for materials, so as to provide more convenience for market participants. For example, business guidelines have been formulated and published, the "one-stop processing" and "checklist-based verification" for contractual transfer business have been implemented, and requirements for materials have been simplified, including the administrative licensing exemption documents for tender offer, the notarization materials for consent to transfer of joint property of husband and wife, and legal opinions proving the actual control relationship, etc., thus greatly reducing the handling costs for market participants and further improving the expectations for business processing. The guidelines for handling the judicial assistance business have been formulated to clarify the scope, handling materials, and procedures for the matter of verification assistance. Going forward, the SSE will step up the integration and consolidation of relevant regulations for the matters concerning market services, and adopt the approaches such as an "all-in-one" handbook to facilitate the reference and use by the market participants.
Implementing the new securities law, and fully optimizing the self-regulation rule system
The new Securities Law tightens the responsibility of exchanges for self-discipline management. Focusing on implementation of the new law, the SSE has stepped up formulation and revision of basic business rules and supporting detailed rules for implementation such as the Bylaw and the Trading Rules. Up to now, 26 sets of business rules have been formulated and 10 sets of rules revised, so as to fully consolidate the foundation of rules for self-discipline management in areas such as issuance and listing review, continuous supervision, trading organization and member management. At the same time, in order to improve user-friendliness of the rule system, with the aim of “distinct levels, clear structure, and easy to understand and use”, the SSE has strived to “merge similar items” and “delete and reduce redundant requirements” based on the characteristics of large scale and various levels for the current rule system, by integrating and merging low-level rules such as business notices and guidelines, and abolishing rules that do not meet the needs of market development. In the revamp, thirteen sets of business rules and 33 sets of business guidelines were abolished, with the effect of "slimming" seen in the system of rules. Going forward, the SSE will accelerate the integration and optimization of the system of business rules, make it easier for market participants to consult, understand and use, and continuously improve self-regulation and market services.