Chinese vaccine maker Changsheng Bio-technology on Tuesday
received an advance notice of a mandatory delisting from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, stirring worries among its 24,800 investors. Other listed companies also learned its lesson.
China's securities regulator issued a warning and a fine of about 600,000 yuan (about 87,128 U.S. dollars). A lifetime ban from access to the market has also been given to the head of the company, Gao Junfang, and three other managers, according to the notice.
The vaccine company has already received a fine of more than 9.1 billion yuan (1.32 billion U.S. dollars) by China's drug authority and its pharmaceutical production license revoked on October 16 this year.
As of December 11, Wind data shows that Changsheng has 24,800 shareholders, with a market capitalization of 3.8 billion yuan.
A Shanghai law firm said it has received hundreds of applications by Changsheng investors, both individual and institutional investors, asking for rights protection, Chinese media Jiemian reported on Wednesday. Lawyers at the firm said there is a large chance for them to win.
The first, but not the last
Changsheng has become the first company receiving forced delisting due to serious violations in the security field since the issuance of new delisting regulation this July, but it is definitely not the last.
Under the new regulation, listed companies with major illegal violations in the fields of national security, public security, ecological security, production safety and public health (the so-called "five major securities") will be forced to withdraw from the market.