1417
(1) Upon conclusion of the hearing, the Disciplinary Committee shall within a specified period of no more than 6 weeks determine if the proceeded charges have been made out and provide a written grounds of decision.
(2) Where the Disciplinary Committee makes a finding that the proceeded charges are made out, the Disciplinary Committee shall also include in the written grounds, the sanctions which are to be imposed against the Relevant Person. The Disciplinary Committee may impose one or more of the following sanctions:
(a) issuing a private warning;
(b) issuing a public reprimand;
(c) in the case of an issuer:
(i) requiring an issuer to appoint special auditors, compliance advisers, legal advisers or other independent professionals for specified purposes;
(ii) requiring an issuer to implement an effective education or compliance programme;
(iii) requiring an issuer to appoint independent advisers to minority shareholders;
(iv) requiring an issuer's directors or executive officers to undertake a mandatory education or training programme;
(v) requiring an issuer to undertake an independent review of internal controls and processes;
(vi) requiring an issuer to perform other remedial action to rectify the consequences of contraventions;
(vii) issuing an order for the denial of facilities of the market, prohibiting an issuer from accessing the facilities of the market for a specified period;
(viii) requiring an issuer to comply with conditions on the activities undertaken by the issuer;
(ix) imposing fines payable to the Exchange, of not more than $250,000 per contravention, subject to a maximum of $1,000,000 per hearing for multiple charges. Fines may be paid by way of instalments which shall not exceed 12 months from the date of the imposition of the fine;
(x) issuing an order for the suspension of the trading of an issuer's securities for a specified period; or
(xi) issuing an order for the removal of an issuer from the Official List;
(d) in the case of an issue manager:
(i) issuing an order for the suspension or restriction of an issue manager's activities, or for the continuation of the suspension or restriction of an issue manager's activities pursuant to Rule 1405(3)(c)(xiv);
(ii) issuing an order for the prohibition of an issue manager from participating in any specific listing applications on the Exchange for a period not exceeding 3 years;
(iii) imposing conditions on the accreditation of an issue manager; or
(iv) issuing an order for the revocation of the accreditation of an issue manager;
(e) in the case of a director or executive officer of an issuer:
(i) requiring the resignation of the director or executive officer from an existing position with any issuer listed on the Exchange; or
(ii) issuing an order prohibiting any issuer for a period not exceeding 3 years from appointing or reappointing the director or executive officer, as a director or executive officer, or both;
(f) issuing an order for costs, requiring that the proceedings be paid by a Relevant Person if the Relevant Person's conduct during proceedings was unreasonable; or
(g) issuing any other order which the Disciplinary Committee is of the opinion is appropriate.
(3) Where the Disciplinary Committee finds that proceeded charges are made out, and the Relevant Person did not object under Rule 1416(5) to an application for charges to be TIC charges, the Disciplinary Committee shall consider the TIC charges before determining the appropriate sanctions. The Disciplinary Committee shall include in the written grounds of decision, the effect that the TIC charges had on the determination of the sanctions imposed.
(4) Where the Disciplinary Committee considers a TIC charge and has included in the written grounds of decision, the effect that the TIC charge had on the determination of the sanctions imposed, the Exchange may not take any further disciplinary action against the Relevant Person in respect of the TIC charge.
(5) Where a Relevant Person objects to an application for charges to be taken into consideration under Rule 1416(5), the charges shall be deemed to be stood down charges. The Disciplinary Committee shall not consider stood down charges when determining sanctions to be imposed.
(6) The Exchange may proceed on the stood down charges by convening a separate Disciplinary Committee hearing.
(7) Failure by a Relevant Person to comply with such requirements or orders issued by the Disciplinary Committee under Rule 1417(2) shall be deemed a contravention of the Exchange's listing rules.
Added on 7 October 20157 October 2015 and amended on 1 August 2021.