机构

If you've ever wondered how some sponsors get to the required number of public shareholders for a listing, this ruling spells it out. 87 retail "clients" at the Wanchai Branch of ICEA Securities subscribed in the placing of Lang Chao (now Inspur, 0596) and then sold 8,712,000 shares for $0.005 more than the IPO price of $0.36 on the first day, to a company owned by the sponsor. The allotment results showed only 116 placees in total.

Note: the only IPO sponsored by ICEA Capital in 2004 was Lang Chao International Ltd (then 8141, now Inspur International Ltd, 0596).

Note: the only IPO sponsored by ICEA Capital in 2004 was Lang Chao International Ltd (then 8141, now Inspur International Ltd, 0596)

We look at the latest action by the SFC against ICEA, the second in three years, and also at the complicated structure of state-controlled banking giant ICBC in Hong Kong.

Once again the SFC encourages investors to believe that orders on a screen should give some kind of signal to the market. Any participant should be able to mask his intentions by posting orders in the opposite direction, or only displaying part of his supply or demand, as long as he is not trading with himself and is able to honour the orders if they are executed.