China’s securities regulator has long been a gatekeeper of new equity listings through its listing approval process, but the approving officers are bestowed so much unbridled power that issuers end up paying for the privilege to go public.
The IPO approval system is something China Securities Regulatory Commission CSRC needs to reform urgently, noted Minggao Shen, Greater China economist at Citi. “The procedure with only a small group of people reviewing listing applications causes many problems,” he said.
“IPO approving officers have unchecked, unbridled absolute power the system brews corruption,” he added.
The Public Offering Review Committee, a powerful arm of the CSRC...