China approves new IPOs

Eleven mainland companies, some of which have private equity or venture capital backers, have been approved for public listing on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, according to local reports, the first new approvals since late 2012 when listing applications were frozen.

The approvals suggest that the domestic IPO markets have been reopened, though no official announcement has been made by the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

Newly approved listings are subject to new regulations designed to curtail fraud, China’s First Financial Daily reported.

Under the new laws, if a listed company is found to have falsified company information during the listing application process, it must repurchase all the new shares issued during the public offering.

Sponsor institutions and accounting firms will have responsibility for ensuring no misleading or false statements are in the IPO application and will be required to compensate investors for any losses if an application is found to be false or misleading.

Since China put a moratorium on new listings in late 2012, Chinese companies have turned to overseas markets to launch IPOs. However, the global proceeds from China-domiciled company IPOs fell 44 percent to $14.8 billion in 2013, the lowest total since 2004 when proceeds fell to $13 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data.