In April 2001 the SFC conducted an overall review of the Hong Kong Code on Takeovers and Mergers (The "Takeovers Code"), as mentioned in the July 2001 issue of this briefing. It was the first wholesale review of the Code in a decade and at the time major amendments to the Code were proposed for public consultation.
Some of the proposed reforms, regarding the percentage thresholds for mandatory offers, were introduced in October 2001. The other proposed reforms remained under consideration. After taking account of comments from the market, the SFC announced the conclusions to the consultation and formally introduced the revised rules, which came into effect on 1 February 2002.
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