This article was originally published on April 13, 2017 in the Hong Kong Oriental ** Investment Column).
On April 8, Liu Shiyu, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, sternly pointed out when attending the second member congress of the Association of Listed Companies: "Some listed companies have committed financial fraud, some use high transfers to promote stock price speculation, and some 'flickering' and 'follow-the-trend' restructuring has become a stubborn disease in the market." There are also listed companies that have no market competitiveness and main business at all, but their major shareholders and directors and supervisors have raised their stock prices to cash out at a high level, and they have over-proportioned and even liquidated. (21st Century Business Herald, April 12).
The mountain rain is about to come and the wind is full of buildings", Chairman Liu's stern wording indicates that the next phenomena such as high transfer and major shareholder violations will become an important direction of the CSRC's supervisionIt also sends a strong signal that the China Securities Regulatory Commission will take action to carry out special inspections of "high transfer" and impose severe penalties.
It should be said that Gao Zhuan should have been strictly supervised a long time ago, although it has become a "belated love" at this time, but it still has the effect of "making up for the dead". Because, the strict supervision of high transfer is not to "beat it to death" and "completely negate", after all, it has the effect of meeting the needs of capital liquidity expansion, and if the appropriate high transfer is carried out on the basis of standardization, it does have the effect of activating capital liquidity;But now the problem is that some listed companies have made the "deterioration and moldiness" of high transfer become a "talisman" for the transfer of secret interests, such as flickering dividends through high transfer to cover up the dismal decline of their operation and deceive the majority of investors;Or use information asymmetry to follow the trend and follow the concept through high transfers, and then turn it into a "blindfold" for stakeholdersOr turn the high transfer into a tool for speculating on stock prices, deliberately releasing a good smokescreen, confusing investors, and becoming the bane of stock price manipulation and insider trading. Judging from these chaos, it is indeed time for Gao Zhuan to strictly supervise and seriously clean up.
On the one hand, it can effectively curb the chaos of high transfers, purify the capital market environment, and further standardize the business behavior of listed companies. At present, the fundamental reason why listed companies are keen on high transfer is that the supervision is not strict, showing a weak regulatory status quo of "missing out on leniency, loose on loose, and soft on soft". In particular, at present, the chaos of high transfer of listed companies has become a common practice, which has had a great impact on formal dividend companies. According to wind data, as of April 8, 1,170 listed companies in the A** field have proposed the 2016 annual dividend transfer plan, 245 to increase shares, as many as 147 to increase more than 10 shares per 10 shares, and 43 to increase more than 20 shares per 10 shares. For every 10 shares, there are 7 listed companies such as Kailong shares. What's more striking is that Kunlun Wanwei, which was only listed in 2016, claims that the company's mid-term high transfer of 10 to 30 is arrogant. In 2016, the dividend transfer plan, the number of companies or the intensity of the transfer, has reached a record high. Therefore, only if the regulatory authorities dare to show their swords, move seriously in supervision, and strictly control several regulatory bottom lines, such as whether the high transfer ratio matches the company's performance growth, whether the disclosure of high transfer related information is sufficient, whether the high transfer plan is related to the follow-up arrangements of relevant shareholders, and provides corresponding insider information, etc., the chaos of high transfer in the capital market will converge, and the listed company will regard cash dividends as its biggest business objectives and responsibilities. On the other hand, it can effectively protect the interests of small and medium-sized investors, promote the formation of value investment concepts, and make China's capital market move towards a healthy development track. The high transfer of flickering dividends, speculation concepts, and blowing up bubbles have allowed the majority of small and medium-sized investors to blindly follow the trend, which not only fuels the speculation of investors, but also makes the majority of small and medium-sized investors become the "pick-up man" of large institutional investors to cash out and take over, which seriously infringes on the interests of investors and affects the capital market and social stability. What is still fresh in people's memory is that on January 22, 2015, Hairun Solar issued an announcement announcing that the top three shareholders proposed to the board of directors at the same time to send a high transfer of "10 to 20", and a large amount of funds entered the market on the same day, and the stock price rose to the limit. As a result, a week later, the above three high transfer proposers turned into **people, and the second shareholder of Jiurun Pipe Industry **078.4 billion shares, cashed out 68.9 billion yuan, and withdrew from the top three shareholders of Hairun PV. Two days later, Hairun Solar issued an announcement of a pre-loss of 800 million yuan, and the stock price responded. The major shareholders withdrew, leaving behind a lot of chicken feathers, and the small and medium-sized investors of the first wanted to cry without tears. Obviously, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has strengthened the supervision of high transfers, which can undoubtedly not only supervise listed companies to standardize high transfer behaviors, but also force more listed companies to move towards the road of cash dividendsIt can not only urge listed companies to form a correct business philosophy, but also allow the majority of small and medium-sized investors to share the development dividends of listed companies, and ultimately effectively enhance the investment function and attractiveness of the capital market.
Therefore, there is hope that China's capital market will develop in a more rational and healthy direction, and investors will be more confident and enthusiastic about China. However, in order to do a good job in the supervision of high transfers, the author hopes that the regulatory authorities will start from many aspects such as the standardization of information disclosure, post-event supervision, and insider trading verification: strictly prevent illegal acts such as manipulating stock prices and insider trading through high transfers;And timely release information to remind small and medium-sized investors to pay attention to the motivation behind the early disclosure of "high transfer";It is strictly required that when a listed company discloses a high transfer plan, it should also disclose whether the company has the intention to do so before the general meeting of shareholders, and explain the specific reasons in detail. If this happens, it will be able to truly curb the irregular behavior of high transfers, and China's capital market will also usher in a vigorous spring. (The author is a researcher at the China Institute of Local Finance).