The China Securities Regulatory Commission Notice on the Release of the Measures on Administration of Listed Companies’ buying back the shares held by the public (for trial Zheng Jian Fa[2005] No. 51 Listed Companies: To standardize listed companies’ acts of buying back shares that are held by the public, the China Securities Regulatory Commission The China Securities Regulatory Commission June 16, 2005 Measures on Administration of Listed Companies’ Buying Back the Shares Held by the Public (for trial implementation) Chapter 1 General Provisions Article 1 These Measures are formulated in accordance with the Company Law, the Securities Law, the Provisional Regulations on the Administration Article 2 Listed Company’s buying back shares held by the public as mentioned in these Measures refers to that a listed company purchases public Article 3 To buy back shares, a listed company shall submit relevant archive-filing materials to the China Securities Regulatory Commission Article 4 A listed company’s buying back shares shall be in the interests of its sustainable development rather than detrimental to legitimate The directors, supervisors and senior officers of the listed company shall practice good faith and due diligence in the buying back Article 5 A listed company shall perform its obligation of disclosing information set forth in these Measures in buying back shares. The listed company and its directors shall ensure the authenticity, accuracy and integrity of the information disclosed by them and Article 6 A listed company shall hire independent financial advisors and law firms to issue professional opinions. The aforesaid professional institutions shall practice good faith and due diligence to conduct dutiful investigation on matters related Article 7 Anyone is prohibited from taking up insider transactions, manipulating prices in securities trading or practicing fraud in securities Article 8 A listed company shall meet the following conditions to buy back shares: (1) Its shares have been listed on market for 1 year; (2) It has not committed major illegal acts within the previous year; (3) It is capable to sustain its operation after the buy-back; (4) After the buy-back, its equity distribution shall principally meet conditions for listing; if it has planned to terminate the trading Article 9 A listed company may take one of the following forms to buy back shares (1) Centralized price competition presided over by securities exchange; (2) Offer; (3) Other means that CSRC allows to be adopted. Article 10 Shares bought back by a listed company lose their rights since they have been put under its special account for buy-back; in calculating Article 11 A listed company is not allowed to issue fresh shares during share buy-back process. The listed company is not allowed to buy back shares by centralized price competition within the 5 working days prior to the release Article 12 If the share buy-back of a listed company leads its shares held or controlled by any individual shareholder to exceed 30%, such shareholder Chapter 3 Share Buy-back Procedures and Information Disclosure Article 13 The board of directors of a listed company shall make public announcement of its resolution and prepared plan for share buy-back within The prepared plan for share buy-back shall include at least the following contents: (1) Purpose of share buy-back; (2) Means by which the shares are bought back; (3) Prices or price range of shares to be bought back and the pricing principle; (4) Kinds/Categories and amount/number of shares proposed to be bought back and the proportion they account for of the total equity; (5) The total amount of capital allocated to buy back shares and its sources; (6) Term valid for share buy-back; (7) Changes predicted of equity structure of the listed company after the buy-back; (8) Analysis by the management of the buy-back’s impact on the listed company’s operation, financial standing and future development. Article 14 Within 3 days prior to the shareholder meeting, the listed company shall make public the names of the top 10 holders of public shares(among Article 15 The independent financial advisors shall carry out investigation with due diligence on affairs related to the share buy-back by a The report of independent financial advisor shall include the following contents: (1) Whether the company’s buying back shares complies with provisions set forth in these Measures; (2) Explanation of necessity of buying back the shares based on factors such as purpose of share buy-back, performance of share price, (3) Identification of feasibility of the buy-back solution by analyzing the impact of the share buy-back on the listed company’s daily (4) Other items that shall be clarified. Article 16 The shareholder meeting of the listed company shall vote on the following items one after another: (1) Means by which the shares are bought back; (2) Prices or price range of shares to be bought back and the pricing principle; (3) Kinds/Categories and amount/number of shares proposed to be bought back and the proportion they account for of the total equity; (4) The total amount of capital allocated to buy back shares and its sources; (5) Term valid for share buy-back; (6) Authorization to the board of directors to implement the buy-back solution; (7) Other relevant items. When making decision of buying back shares on shareholder meeting, the listed company shall make clear in written on the resolution Article 17 The share buy-back resolution made on the shareholder meeting of the listed company needs over two-thirds of the voting rights held Article 18 A listed company shall inform its creditors of its share buy-back resolution after making this decision. Article 19 A listed company may submit the share buy-back materials to the CSRC and forward a copy of those materials to the representative office Article 20 Share buy-back materials that the listed company shall submit for record shall include: (1) Application for buying back shares; (2) Resolution of the board of directors; (3) Resolution of the shareholder meeting; (4) Buy-back report of the listed company; (5) The report of independent financial advisor; (6) Legal advice; (7) The latest financial accounting statement(audited) of the listed company; (8) Self-review reports by directors, supervisors, senior officers and all intermediaries participating in this share buy-back concerning (9) Other documents required by CSRC. Article 21 The buy-back report of a listed company shall include the following contents: (1) All items listed in the prepared plan on share buy-back in Article 13 of these Measures; (2) Explanation on whether the directors, supervisors, senior officers of the listed company have bought its shares within 6 months prior (3) Conclusive advice issued by independent financial advisors on this share buy-back; (4) Conclusive advice issued by law firm on this share buy-back; (5) Other items that shall be clarified. If it buys back shares by offer, the listed company shall also disclose the way and procedures by which the shareholders accept the Article 22 The legal advice issued by law firm on a listed company’s share buy-back shall include the following contents: (1) Whether the listed company’s buying back shares meets conditions set forth in these Measures or not; (2) Whether the listed company has already followed the mandatory procedures in buying back shares; in the event that approvals of other (3) Whether the listed company has already performed its obligation of disclosing information set forth in these Measures in buying back (4) Whether the sources of the listed company’s capital for share buy-back is legal or in line with relevant regulations or not; (5) Other items that shall be clarified. Article 23 If the CSRC raises no objection to its share buy-back archive-filing materials within 10 working days since it receives those materials, If it buys back shares by centralized price competition, the listed company shall make public announcement of its buy-back report The listed company shall make public announcement of the legal advice together with its buy-back solution. Article 24 Before implementing its buy-back solution, a listed company shall open special account with the securities registration and clearing Article 25 A listed company shall implement its buy-back solution within the valid term. If the listed company has not implemented its buy-back solution until 3 months prior to the expiry of the valid term, the board of Article 26 When the valid term for buy-back solution expires or it has finished implementing the buy-back solution, the listed company shall Chapter 4 Special Provisions on Share Buy-back by centralized price competition Article 27 A listed company shall entrust securities company with professional qualifications to engage in securities brokering to handle the Article 28 In the process of share buy-back, the listed company shall, within the firs 3 trading days of each month, make public announcement Article 29 Where the period of buy-back expires or the buy-back plan has been completed, the listed company shall, in the report of change of Chapter 5 Special Provisions on Share Buyback by Offer Article 30 If a listed company buys back share by offer, the prices it offers shall be no less than the numerical average of the weighted daily Article 31 If it buys back share by offer, a listed company shall deposit capital necessary for buy-back under the bank account designated by The term for offer shall be no shorter than 30 days and no longer than 60 days. Article 32 If a listed company buys back share by offer and when the number of shares shareholders have planned to accept in advance is much Article 33 If a listed company buys back shares listed in China but funded by foreign investors, such trading shall comply with provisions in Chapter 6 Regulatory Measures and Legal Liabilities Article 34 If a listed company fails to submit relevant archive-filing materials to CSRC in violation of these Measures, the CSRC is enpost_titled Article 35 If there is falsified record, misleading representation or major omission in information disclosed by a listed company concerning Article 36 If a listed company practices fraud, manipulates the market or takes up insider transaction through buying back shares, the CSRC punishes Article 37 If the professional institutions that issued opinions for listed companies in their buyback process fail to perform obligation of Chapter 7 Supplementary Provisions Article 38 These Measures shall be implemented as of the date of promulgation. |
The China Securities Regulatory Commission
2005-06-16