賣空者再次瞄準香港中概股

Two fresh attacks by short sellers on Hong Kong-listed stocks are testing the city’s efforts to limit companies’ ability to halt their shares from trading without answering allegations.

賣空者對香港上市股票發起的兩起最新襲擊，正在考驗該市的一項努力，有關機構正尋求限制上市公司在沒有迴應指控情況下將股票停牌的能力。

CT Environmental Group requested a trading halt yesterday, after the publication of a critique by Glaucus Research sent its shares down 18.1 per cent within minutes. The Chinese waste water manager asked for the suspension pending news and its rebuttal.

中滔環保(CT Environmental Group)昨日請求暫停交易，此前Glaucus Research發表了一份批評報告，使該公司股價在幾分鐘內下挫18.1%。這家中國廢水處理公司以準備發佈新聞和反駁爲由請求股票停牌。

CTEG’s decision to suspend its shares came just days after an anonymous attack posted online against China Hongqiao, the world’s largest aluminium producer by capacity. Hongqiao, which has not halted trading in its shares, yesterday described the report’s allegations as “one-sided and misleading speculation” and reserved the right to take legal action.

中滔環保決定請求停牌的幾天前，有人在網上匿名攻擊全球產能最大的鋁生產商中國宏橋(China Hongqiao)。沒有請求股票停牌的宏橋昨日形容匿名報告的指控是“單方面及誤導性猜測”，並保留採取法律行動的權利。

Several companies previously targeted by short sellers, who aim to profit from share price falls, have taken weeks and occasionally months to prepare a response — and left their shares suspended during that period.

賣空者的目的是從股價下跌中獲利；以往成爲他們目標的多家公司往往花費幾周甚至數月時間準備自己的迴應，在此期間讓自己的股票一直處於停牌狀態。

Hong Kong’s regulator, the Securities and Futures Commission, has long leaned towards share suspensions as a means of meeting its obligation to prevent false or disorderly markets but investors have complained the practice also leaves them trapped in untraded securities.

香港監管機構——證券及期貨事務監察委員會(SFC)長期偏向於股票停牌，視之爲履行自身防止虛假或無序市場之職責的一種手段，但投資者抱怨稱，這種做法使他們被不能買賣的證券套牢。

The Hong Kong Exchange sought earlier this year to cap the length of such suspensions. It told companies that it would not demand to vet all clarification statements before their release, and that halts must absolutely be kept to a minimum.

香港交易所(HKEx)今年早些時候曾尋求限制停牌期限。該交易所告訴上市公司，它不會要求對所有澄清聲明在發佈之前進行審查，並且停牌必須維持在最低限度。

The attack against Hongqiao was launched through a website that gives no clues to the accuser’s identity apart from an acknowledgment of a short position on the stock. The company has promised a more detailed rebuttal.

對宏橋的攻擊是通過一個網站發起的，該網站沒有提供有關指控者身份的線索，只承認指控者持有該股的空頭頭寸。宏橋已承諾作出更詳細的澄清。

Hongqiao yesterday began trading down 4.3 per cent but rallied to close 2.5 per cent higher. Trading volume was four times its average for this year.

宏橋股票昨日開盤下跌4.3%，但後來出現反彈，收漲2.5%。成交量達到今年以來平均值的四倍。

Shares in CTEG were down 12.6 per cent when trading was halted and it did not restart. The company has not released a rebuttal. Its accuser, Glaucus, has a record in Hong Kong. Its last target, Tech Pro Tech, fell almost 90 per cent the day Glaucus published its research while a previous mark, China Metal Recycling, was subsequently wound up by the SFC.

中滔環保股價在停牌前下跌12.6%，當日沒有復牌。該公司還沒有發佈澄清公告。其指控者Glaucus在香港已多次出手。其上一個目標德普科技(Tech Pro Tech)在Glaucus發表研究報告當日暴跌近90%，而之前一個目標——中國金屬再生資源(China Metal Recycling)——後來被證監會清盤。

Hong Kong’s regulator is under pressure to crack down on “problematic” public companies following a sharp rise in complaints about poor governance and disclosure.

由於對治理和披露不良的投訴急劇上升，香港監管機構正受到壓力，要求其打擊“有問題”的上市公司。

It has also stepped up its policing of the short seller community. This year Andrew Left of Citron Research was found culpable of market misconduct by a Hong Kong tribunal in the first example of the watchdog pursuing unregulated published commentary.

監管機構也加強了對賣空者羣體的管束。今年，香港市場失當行爲審裁處裁定香櫞(Citron Research)的安德魯.萊福特(Andrew Left)犯有誤導市場的不當行爲，這是監管機構懲處不受監管發表評論的首例。

Mr Left is appealing against the ruling, which banned him from trading in the city for five years and demanded at least $700,000 in disgorgement of profits and payment of costs.

萊福特正對上述裁決提起上訴，他被下了5年內禁入香港市場的禁令，並且被要求交出至少70萬美元的利潤和費用。