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Zoe SL Chan

Hong Kong is at an opportune time to move forward with a so-called IPO connect scheme, according to Pamela Chung Kong-hung, Vistra’s managing director and head of its IPO and share registry services, as the scheme would allow mainland investors access to initial public offerings in Hong Kong, enable better price discovery and expand the investor capital pool to better match the city’s large IPO pipeline.
“The secondary market connect has been operating very stably without causing capital outflows,” Chung said in an interview with the South China Morning Post.
“The focus now is no longer on capital flight, but on market structure development,” she added.
Beijing’s earlier connect scheme, the Stock Connect plan launched in 2014, first linked Hong Kong and Shanghai, before adding Shenzhen in 2016. The scheme allowed mainland investors to buy Hong Kong stocks and international investors to trade mainland shares via Hong Kong. The program has since expanded to include bonds, exchange-traded funds, wealth management products and swaps.
Chung, who has three decades of experience working alongside investment bankers, lawyers, regulators and listed issuers on high-profile IPO transactions in Hong Kong, said she saw the introduction of the scheme as the “next step to achieving a full capital market connection between the two regions, as Hong Kong and Beijing actively promote renminbi dual-counter trading and various financial connect schemes.”
An IPO connect programme has been extensively discussed for over a decade. While Hong Kong authorities have long sought the introduction of the programme to boost market liquidity, they previously faced resistance from regulators in Beijing.
However, a turning point emerged in June when Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po confirmed that Hong Kong was in talks with mainland Chinese authorities to expand cross-border investment, including plans to allow mainland retail investors to subscribe to Hong Kong IPOs.
In Chung’s view, an IPO connect scheme was not about creating speculative demand or generating “hot IPOs”. Rather, it was about strengthening Hong Kong’s market infrastructure and broadening the available investor base for companies raising capital.
She noted that most entities currently listing in Hong Kong are mainland brands, new-economy firms or consumer-focused businesses, such as robotics companies.
“Mainland investors are far more familiar with mainland enterprises and consumer brands,” she added. “If we have a primary market connect, it will allow for better price discovery and reduce sharp stock price volatility caused by a limited number of institutional investors or sell-offs by major shareholders.”

Data from bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) showed over 500 active listing applications, excluding confidential filings, with Vistra involved in more than 40 per cent of these cases, according to Chung, who added that allowing mainland funds to participate in these IPOs was crucial to providing sufficient capital for the large pipeline.
HKEX CEO Bonnie Chan Yi-ting noted that Hong Kong’s IPO fundraising reached US$41 billion by early August this year, surpassing last year’s total of US$39.5 billion.
An IPO connect scheme would allow mainland Chinese investors to directly subscribe to Hong Kong IPOs, with potential for international funds to participate in specific mainland primary listings through a closed-loop financial framework.
Beyond market connectivity, Chung said she had seen a shift in environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting. With regulators promoting simpler, clearer listing documents in recent years, she said, ESG reports should evolve from compliance documents into investor relations communication tools.
“Artificial intelligence can already produce a technically compliant ESG report faster and cheaper,” she said. “When everyone can generate a report, the report itself stops being the value.
“We handle ESG reports much like IPO prospectuses. A well-crafted prospectus should help investors clearly understand the company’s future and outlook, rather than merely meeting the regulator’s minimum compliance requirements,” she said, drawing on Vistra’s reach across more than half of Hong Kong’s listed issuers.
“For most listed companies, the challenge is no longer how to produce an ESG report. The challenge is how to make investors care about it,” Chung said. Therefore, reports need to translate a company’s ESG initiatives into financial language that investors understand.
This includes highlighting cost discipline, such as how energy savings and carbon reduction directly lower operating costs, and risk management by disclosing how measures reduce operational risk.
Chung said that as the market matures, more small and medium-sized enterprises and new economy companies would seek cost-effective, high-leverage ESG communication solutions that help companies manage their market value effectively.


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Scheme introduction would allow mainland Chinese investors access to the city’s IPOs and boost investor capital, Vistra managing director says


Scheme introduction would allow mainland Chinese investors access to the city’s IPOs and boost investor capital, Vistra managing director says.


‘IPO queen’ Pamela Chung says time is ripe for listing connect scheme

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Scheme introduction would allow mainland Chinese investors access to the city’s IPOs and boost investor capital, Vistra managing director says

Scheme introduction would allow mainland Chinese investors access to the city’s IPOs and boost investor capital, Vistra managing director says