General Rules
1. What is Hong Kong Initial Public Offering (IPO) Subscription?
A company’s listing is also known as an initial public offering (IPO), in which shares of the company are being offered to the public for the first time. "IPO Subscription" means that investors participate in the initial public offerings. The investors have the opportunity to purchase the IPO stock at the final price.
If the company intends to be listed on the main board of HKEX, it needs to submit an application to HKEX through IPO procedures. Usually the IPO divides into two parts: international offering and Hong Kong public offering. International offering is for professional investors (generally institutional investors or high-net-worth individual investors), including cornerstone investment and anchor investment. Usually, the allotment shares obtained by cornerstone investors have a half-year lock-up period. Listing regulations stipulate that under normal circumstances, international offering accounts for more than 90% of the total issuance, and the remaining is Hong Kong public offering, where retail investors participate in the IPO. In addition, a callback mechanism is set up to expand the proportion of the public offering in case of oversubscription from public offering. The public offering can account for up to 50% of the entire issuance to ensure that retail investors have enough opportunities to participate.
*Tiger Brokers support two subscription methods: Subscription through Margin and Subscription through Cash.
2. Issue Price and Final Offering Price
The underwriter usually gives the price range based on company valuation and market feedback. Before the official listing, underwriters will determine the final offering price, which most often falls into the price range. The consideration deducted from the client's account is calculated based on the upper limit of the range.
3. Subscription Quantity
Subscription quantities available to retail investors in IPO are pre-determined by HKEX, which may vary from stock to stock. The minimum subscription quantity is usually 1 board lot, which may equal to 100 shares, 200 shares, or 1,000 shares and etc. For the number of shares per lot and the subscription limit, please refer to the prospectus provided by HKEX.
4. Subscription Open Day
Means the date when Tiger Brokers begin accepting subscription from investors. Please refer to the IPO subscription page for details.
5. Subscription Deadline
Means the date when Tiger Brokers stop accepting subscription applications. Please refer to the IPO subscription page for details.
After the subscription deadline, the client's subscription will be confirmed and can't be adjusted or cancelled any more.
6. Subscription Period
According to the FINI process, the subscription period typically spans from the opening day of subscription to the subscription deadline, usually lasting 3-3.5 days. Please refer to the displayed information on the page for the specific duration.
7. Allotement
The allotement usually happens on one trading day before the listing day. The investor may get full allotment, partial allotment or none at the final price.
8. Date of Allocation Announcement
The results of the allocation for new stock subscriptions in the Hong Kong stock market are uniformly announced by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, typically released on the two trading days before the official listing date (L-2).
9. Account Assignment/Refund Rules
After allotement is received, the allocated shares are often assigned to the account on the same day of allotement result day. Generally, it will be allocated to the account before the grey market open.
The fund for the unsuccessful subscription and any amount due to the lower final price than the subscription price will be refunded to the account on the allotement date. In case of any special circumstances, HKEX will make special annoucement.
10. Rules of allocation
The allocation mechanism for the public offering of HK stocks is determined by the syndicate and the issuer. The investor may not be alloted at all for certain popular IPO. Allocation results details can be checked through the information disclosure website of HKEX. Generally speaking, there are two rules as follows:
(1) The more you subscribe, the more likely you get allotment. Therefore, to increase the chance of allotment, the simplest way is to increase funds, and you can subscribe through margin to raise the leverage.
(2) Equal allocation shall be carried out as far as possible. For investors subscribing for the same amount of shares, the difference in the allotment will be within 1 board lot at most.
11. 1 Lot subscription
It refers to the probability of getting allotment by subscribing for the minimum 1 lot only.
Example: In the public sale stage of HaiDiLao Hot Pot (06862, the number of effective subscription for 1 lot (1000 shares) is 6,861, of which 4,117 got allotment, hence the probability of allotment is 60.01%.
FAQs on Tiger Trade Hong Kong IPOs subscription
Q1: Where can I find IPOs subscription?
A: Open Tiger Trade APP-"Portfolio" - "IPO", you can check the IPOs subscription status. If you do not find the IPO application portal, you may need to update the APP or contact Tiger Brokers' customer services.
Q2: What is a subscription through cash? What is a subscription through margin?
A:
The method of using the cash (HKD) in the account to subscribe is called subscription through cash.
The method of using leverage to increase subscription amount is called subscription through margin; the margin ratio and interest charged may be different for each IPO. Please refer to the IPO page for details.
Q3: Does Tiger support subscriptions through cash and subscriptions through margin?
A: Both Cash accounts and Margin accounts support subscription to Hong Kong IPOs. Details are as follows:
Margin account | Cash account |
subscription through cash or margin | subscription through cash or margin |
*Cash account financing subscriptions vary depending on the symbol. Whether financing subscriptions are supported, please check the subscription page.
Q4: Related to interest calculation of subscription through margin ("Margin IPO")
A: Subscription through margin will incur financing interest.
Financing interest = financing amount * financing days * daily interest rate (daily interest rate may change from time to time. Please refer to the IPO subscription page for more details).
Financing interest amount: Only the loan amount will be charged when applying for an IPO.
Financing days: From the application closing date to one calendar day before the allotment day (both days inclusive).
Q5: IPO frozen funds
A: After the subscription through margin is confirmed, your own capital of the subscription will be frozen. The frozen funds have not been deducted from your account, but can't be used for other purposes (e.g. Buy stocks, withdrawal, currency conversion and etc). Once you cancel the subscription before the deadline, such frozen amount will immediately be released to your account.
The amount of frozen funds for Hong Kong IPO subscriptions depends on whether the subscription is through cash or margin. For subscriptions through cash, the amount of frozen funds is at 100% subscription amount. For subscriptions through margin, the amount of frozen funds is your own capital of the subscription, based on consideration and margin ratio.
Q6: When will the amount be deducted from your account?
A: There are a few different dates of deduction. The subscription amount will usually be deducted on the closing date of the subscription, including: 1) the subscription amount (including the brokerage commission, SFC transaction levy, FRC transaction levy, and exchange transaction fee), which will be marked as "funds in transit" after deduction; 2) Subscription Fee/Handling Fee.
On the allotment day, your funds in transit will be returned to your account first, and the actual allotment amount based on the final price will be deducted according to the allotment results (including brokerage commission, CSRC transaction levy, FRC transaction levy, and exchange transaction fee). Financing interest will also be deducted on the same day if you use margin IPO.
Q7: Are there any restrictions on currency types?
A: The margin account can directly use the purchasing power to participate in IPOs subscriptions without any currency restriction; You can check your purchasing power in Tiger Trade APP - "Portfolio" - "Buying Power".
If your cash account does not have enough Hong Kong dollars for IPO subscrption, you need to exchange currency before subscription.
If clients want to exchange their currencies for Hong Kong dollars, clients can open Tiger Trade APP-"Portfolio" - "Currency Exchange".
Q8: Modify the subscription application
A: Before the deadline of the subscription, the quantity of the subscription can be modified and cancelled at your wish. You cannot modify or cancel after the deadline of the subscription. Cancel/Modify order: IPO subscription-"History" - "Details"- "Cancel/Modify".
※Please refer to the subscription information page for the exact deadline.
Q9: How to confirm the subscription when I subscribe to multiple IPOs with insufficient funds?
A: Confirm the subscriptions in the chronological order of subscription submission.
Q10: Can the same person subscribe for the same IPO stock with multiple accounts?
A: For the same IPO, the same applicant can only apply for it once. If the same applicant uses different accounts, or applies at different brokers, the subscriptions by the same investor may all be cancelled by HKEX.
In some cases, the information of the customer's ID card or passport is not required by certain brokers, but the broker is responsible for ensuring that each applicant/beneficiary can only apply for one subscription.
Q11: I only have US dollars in the account. When using Margin IPO, will there be any additional interest of currencies other than financing interest?
A: No additional loan interest will be incurred during the subscription period, but after deducting the subscription amount, if your account balance of HKD is negative, your account will accrue interest. If you deposit HKD into the account and make the account balance positive on the same day, no loan interest will be generated.
Similarly, after deducting the allotment amount, if your account balance of HKD is negative, your account will accrue interest. If you deposit HKD into the account and make the account balance positive on the same day, no loan interest will be generated.
Q12: If the listing of new shares is delayed or canceled after subscription period, how will the transaction order be processed?
A：
Scenes | Treatment plan |
IPO delayed | Client's orders are retained until the Hong Kong Stock Exchange announces the confirmed listing date; if there is a re-listing, client's orders will be cancelled and the deducted amount will be returned after HKEX returns the subscription amount. Margin IPO interet and handling fee will not be refunded. |
IPO delisted | According to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s announcement of cancellation of listing, clients’ confirmed orders will be cancelled and the deducted amount will be returned after HKEX returns the subscription amount. Margin IPO interet and handling fee will not be refunded. |
*The above arrangement is only for general cases. For specific arrangements, please refer to the announcement of HKEX. If you have any questions, please contact Tiger Brokers' customer services at +852 2127 0666.
Q13: If Tiger support use the purchasing power of Tiger Vault when applying to a new IPO?
A: YES.
NOTED:
1) When using Tiger Vault to purchase an IPO, the part of the IPO frozen amount using Tiger Vault will enter the automatic redemption process at the end of the subscription day,
2) If the redemption amount has not arrived at the time of the subscription deadline, financing interest may be incurred;
3) The IPO does not guarantee the allocation amount. If the amount redeemed by Tiger Vault is less than the allocation amount when settled on the allocation day, the insufficient amount will continue to be redeemed from Tiger Vault and generate financing interest
Please make reasonable arrangements for subscription or manually redeem Tiger Vault in advance.
For specific rules, see Tiger Vault function introduction
Q14: After using FINI, would the client subscribe to the same IPO via multiple brokers?
A: No
*If you subscribe to the same IPO with multiple brokers concurrently, FINI will regard the order as an invalid order, and cancel it. The handling fee incurred will not be refunded, so please arrange your subscription plan reasonably. Please ensure that your subscription plan is arranged appropriately.
Q15: What are the subscription status?
A: After submitting the subscription application, the APP will display the following statuses:
(1) Submitting: Indicating that the client has submitted the subscription application and is awaiting Tiger Brokers' review;
(2) Pending: Indicating that the client has submitted the subscription application but can still modify or cancel the application.
(3) Confirmed: Indicating that the subscription application has been confirmed, but the allotment result has not been determined yet. At this stage, the subscription application cannot be modified or canceled.
(4) Successful: Indicating that the client has won the lot and been allocated all or part of the subscribed shares. The stock arrival time may be slightly delayed.
(5) Unsuccessful: Indicating that the client has not won the lot and therefore has not received the subscription shares.
(6)Cancel :Indicating the order is canceled
*Once FINI is online , the order will be rejected when the client submits the same IPO via different brokers to FINI,
The client's order is displayed as "Cancel " on Tiger Trade