Practical issues on Hong Kong’s inside information disclosure
China Business Law Journal
Following the implementation of Hong Kong’s new statutory regime on inside information disclosure on 1 January 2013, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) observed an increase of over 40% of corporate announcements on inside information in the first three months of 2013, as compared to the same quarter of 2012. The SFC recently released certain guidelines in the form of frequently asked questions (FAQs) to advise Hong Kong-listed issuers on the application of the provisions of Part XIVA of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) and the SFC Guidelines on Disclosure of Inside Information.
Listed issuers’ and officers’ duties
The SFO expands and codifies the
existing obligations of disclosure of price sensitive information by Hong
Kong-listed issuers under the listing rules of Hong Kong’s Stock Exchange.
Subject to the applicability of “safe harbours” in the SFO, listed issuers are
statutorily required to disclose to the public any inside information that has
come to their knowledge as soon as reasonably practicable. A listed issuer will
be regarded to have knowledge of the inside information if:
(a)
one
or more of its officers knows or ought reasonably to have known that
information in the course of performing functions as officers of the issuer;
and
(b)
a
reasonable person, acting as an officer of the corporation, would consider that
the information is inside information in relation to the issuer.
The meaning of “officer” is broadly construed. It encompasses an issuer’s directors, company secretary and managers. A person may be regarded as a manager if he is under the immediate authority of the board and is in charge of management responsibility affecting the whole, or a substantial part, of the issuer.
The SFC considers that it is the
officers who are ultimately responsible for the compliance of the issuer’s
disclosure obligations. The SFO requires every officer to take all reasonable
measures from time to time to ensure that proper safeguards exist to prevent a
breach of the disclosure requirement. An officer would have personal liability
under the SFO if the issuer fails to make due disclosures, and it is his
intentional, reckless or negligent conduct that resulted in the issuer’s
breach. Non-executive directors, who are usually not involved in the day-to-day
operations of the issuer, may be liable if the board as a whole fails to
establish or monitor key internal control procedures to ensure the issuer’s due
compliance with the disclosure requirements.
What is inside information?
The SFO defines inside information to mean, in relation to a listed issuer, specific information that is related to (a) the issuer, (b) its shareholder or officer, or (c) its securities or their derivatives, and which is not generally known to the persons who are accustomed or would be likely to deal in the listed securities of the issuer, but would if generally known to them be likely to materially affect the price of the listed securities.
Whether any particular
information will constitute inside information is dependent on its own facts
and circumstances. Information that is incomplete and yet capable of allowing a
matter or an event to be identified, and its nature to be coherently described
and understood, may constitute specific information. The same applies even if a
contemplated transaction is only at the stage of preliminary negotiation, if
such transaction is more than a vague hope or wishful thinking.
An issuer should not take it for
granted that any information which has been reported in the media or analysts’
reports will be regarded as generally known. It should consider how widely the
information has been and will be disseminated in the market, and whether the
disseminated information is accurate and complete. If the information known to
the market is not readily available to retail investors, or is incomplete or
inaccurate, such information cannot be regarded as generally known.
The issuer should further assess
whether the information is likely to materially affect the market price of its
listed securities. The assessment will depend on various factors, such as the
nature and size of the issuer, the subject matter of the information, and
market conditions.
Manner and timing of disclosure
An issuer must immediately take
all necessary steps to disclose any inside information through the electronic
publication system of Hong Kong’s stock exchange – by way of corporate
announcements – unless the information falls within the “safe harbours” under
section 307D of the SFO. Before full disclosure is made, the issuer should
ensure that the information is kept strictly confidential. If confidentiality
cannot be maintained, it should consider applying for a suspension of trading
in its securities until disclosure can be made.
Practical concerns in making
announcements
In the FAQs, the SFC makes it
clear that an issuer should not use the heading of “voluntary announcement” in
making inside information disclosures. Rather, it is expected to adopt a
meaningful heading for the announcement, which accurately reflects the
substance of the information concerned. Otherwise, the issuer will risk
non-compliance with the SFO.
The inside information in the
announcements should be factual, clear and expressed in a balanced and
objective manner. Key messages should be clearly visible and presented in a
readily understandable manner. Sufficient quantitative information that has
come to the knowledge of the listed issuer should be included to ensure that
the announcement is not false or misleading.
Simon
Luk is a partner and the chairman of Asia practice at
Winston & Strawn in Hong Kong. He can be contacted on +852 2292 2222 or by
email at sluk@winston.com
Fiona
Tang is a solicitor at Winston & Strawn in Hong Kong. She can be contacted
on +852 2292 2218 or by email at ftang@winston.com
有关香港内幕消息披露制度的一些实用问题
香港有关内幕消息披露的新法定制度于2013年1月1日实施后，香港证券及期货事务监察委员会（证监会）观察到，就2013年第一季度而言，公司的内幕消息公告与2012年同期相比增长超过40％。证监会最近以“常见问题解答”（FAQs）的形式就《证券及期货条例》第XIVA部有关条款及证监会发布的《内幕消息披露指引》向香港上市公司提供了一些指引。
上市公司及其高级人员的职责
《证券及期货条例》对香港联合交易所的上市规则下现有的香港上市发行人股价敏感资料披露义务作了扩展并纳入法例。除非《证券及期货条例》中“安全港”规则能够适用，法例要求上市公司在合理地切实可行的范围内尽快向公众披露上市公司已知的任何内幕信息。下列情形将被视为上市公司已知内幕消息：
(a)公司的一名或多名高级人员在履行其分内职能的过程中，知道或理应知道该等信息；及
(b)一个合理的人，如果以公司高级人员的身份行事，会认为该等信息是公司的内幕消息。
“高级人员”的含义被广义的解释。它包括上市公司的董事、公司秘书和经理。一个人如果直接受命于董事会，并对上市公司的整体或大部分承担管理责任，则其可以被视为经理。
证监会的观点是最终应由高级人员对上市公司的信息披露义务承担合规责任。《证券及期货条例》要求每一名高级人员不时地采取一切合理方法，确保适当的保障措施存在，以防止上市公司违反法定的披露要求。如果一名高级人员因为蓄意、罔顾后果或疏忽而导致上市公司违规，未能作出应有的披露，该高级人员可须根据《证券及期货条例》承担个人责任。如果董事会作为一个整体未能建立或监督关键的内部控制程序以确保上市公司充分遵守法定披露要求，那么没有经常性参与该上市公司日常运作的非执行董事也可能会因此而承担责任。
什么是“内幕消息”？
根据《证券及期货条例》的定义，“内幕消息”就上市公司而言，是指与下列事项有关的具体信息：(a) 该上市公司，（b）该公司的股东或高级人员，或（c）该公司的上市证券或该等证券的衍生工具；以及，并非为惯常参与或可能参与该公司上市证券交易的人普遍所知，但一旦为其普遍所知，该等信息很可能对该公司上市证券的价格造成重大影响。
任何特定信息是否构成内幕消息，取决于该信息本身涵盖的事实和周边的环境。即使信息是不完整的，但能够使一个事宜或事件得到识别，并且该事宜或事件的性质能够被合乎逻辑地描述和理解，也可构成具体信息。这同样适用于尚处于初步谈判阶段的拟进行交易，除非该交易还只是一个含糊的希望或个人的愿景。
上市公司不应该理所当然地将媒体或分析报告报导了的任何信息视为普遍所知。上市公司应该考虑该等信息在何等广度上已经或将要在市场上传播，以及所传播的信息是否准确及完整。如果市场所知的信息尚未提供给散户投资者，或者是不完整或不准确的，该等信息不能被视为普遍所知。
上市公司应进一步评估该等信息是否可能对其上市证券的市场价格造成重大影响。该等评估将取决于各种因素，如上市公司的性质和规模、信息的主题和市场条件等。
披露的方式和时间
上市公司必须立即采取一切必要步骤以公司公告的形式，通过香港的证券交易电子公告系统披露任何内幕消息——除非该信息属于《证券及期货条例》第307D条下的“安全港”规则保护范畴之内。作出全面披露前，上市公司应确保信息严格保密。如果披露前不能维持保密状态，上市公司应该考虑申请暂停其证券交易，直到完成披露为止。
发布公告时几个实用的注意事项
在“常见问题解答”中，证监会明确指出，上市公司不应以“自愿性公告”为标题发布内幕消息披露公告，而应采用能准确反映有关信息实质内容的有意义的标题。否则，上市公司将有违反《证券及期货条例》的风险。
公告中披露的内幕消息应该是基于对事实的描述、清楚并且以一种中立和客观的方式加以表述。关键信息应清晰可见，并以一种容易理解的方式表达。上市公司已知的充分量化信息也应当包含在披露之中，以确保披露公告没有错误或误导性。
