Hong Kong Short Reporting Obligations

This Article is a general summary of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission’s (“SFC”) regulatory position relating to the short selling and the carrying of large short positions in selected HK listed securities. The following information is being provided as a service convenience and IB does not guarantee the information for either accuracy or completeness. There may be subsequent changes to the regulations, and investors with large short positions should refer directly to the SFC regulations on the SFC website. 

 

Overview

  • Hong Kong regulations now require beneficial owners of shares in selected HK listed stocks to report each week short positions that exceed the threshold of HKD 30 million or 0.02% of market capitalization on the constituent stocks of the Hang Seng Index, the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index and other financial companies specified by the SFC. A list of affected of stocks can be found here:

http://www.sfc.hk/sfc/html/EN/research/short-position-reporting/specified-shares.html 

  • Investors with applicable positions should register directly with the SFC. Registration and guidance on the registration process can be found here.
  • Reporting is expected on a weekly basis, but the second business day of the following week.
  • Links for the registering and reporting can be found here:

https://portal.sfc.hk/dsp/gateway/welcome?locale=en

Guidelines, Instructions and FAQ's:

SFC announcement with links to legislation

Short position forms, guidelines, reference material and list of specified shares

Link to subscribe to SFC alert service (choose Short Position Reporting Related Matters)

Legislation and Rules

For further details, please refer to the SFC website: www.sfc.hk and/or contact them via email with specific questions at shortpositions@sfc.hk