DAB lawmakers on Thursday called on the government to further reduce stamp duty on stock transactions to make the stock market more appealing. The government reduced the stamp duty on stock transactions from 0.13 percent to 0.1 percent for both buyers and sellers in November last year, but DAB lawmaker Edmund Wong suggested that only sellers should pay the stamp duty of 0.1 percent. "Most of the capital markets are now charging a zero stamp duty or a relatively low stamp duty. We believe that lowering the transaction cost is also essential for maintaining our competitiveness with the global markets, as well as in line with the global trend of a zero stamp duty tax rate," he said. "Though it may affect government revenues in the long term, we believe that the applications could further enhance our competitiveness, as well as attracting the talent, and the money to Hong Kong for further investment." DAB lawmaker Rock Chen, meanwhile, said it took an average of eight months for companies to get newly listed in Hong Kong, which was double that in the US. He said Hong Kong should streamline its vetting and approval procedures for new listing applications as that would provide more certainty for companies. "For Hong Kong, the time to go through IPO applications is relatively lengthier than a lot of our international competitors, especially the US," he said. "We propose a service pledge, meaning for both sides, the regulators and also the applicants, further enquiries must be issued within 22 business days, roughly one calendar month. So that would make the communication and the enquiries more effective." Chen said China's central bank unveiled a series of measures to boost the country's economy, which included cutting interest rates and rates on existing mortgages. He said the measures would benefit Hong Kong, but the city should make its market more appealing, instead of only relying on external factors.
