“Doing 100 good things in front may be erased because of this typo. The price is too high…” the chief lawyer of a large law firm lamented to the financial associated press. On May 18, just two days before the misprint announcement was issued, Shenzhen Securities Regulatory Bureau issued a ticket to Beijing Zhonglun (Shenzhen) law firm.
On May 16, the listed company Shenzhen H&T Intelligent Control Co.Ltd(002402) issued an announcement entitled “legal opinion of Beijing Zhonglun (Shenzhen) law firm on the first extraordinary general meeting of shareholders in Shenzhen H&T Intelligent Control Co.Ltd(002402) 2022”, in which the title of “extraordinary general meeting of shareholders” was written as “dying general meeting of shareholders” due to clerical error, and the author of the document was suspected to be Beijing Zhonglun (Shenzhen) law firm.
“Temporary” became “dying”. After the announcement was issued, the market was in an uproar. Although the wrong documents were corrected and corrected in time, one stone aroused thousands of waves. In response to the above situation, the Shenzhen Securities Regulatory Bureau conducted an on-site inspection on the Institute on May 17, the day after the announcement was issued. The Bureau said it had noticed the media reports. Finally, in response to the problems found in the inspection, the Shenzhen Securities Regulatory Bureau took regulatory measures to order the exchange to make corrections according to law on May 18, and took regulatory measures to issue warning letters to three lawyers.
a ticket sounded the alarm of the industry
The financial Associated Press reporter noted that the above ticket is the first announcement of the Shenzhen Securities Regulatory Bureau to disclose the regulatory measures separately in the work dynamics of the bureau this year, and it is also a rare “lightning” punishment. For the further reasons for issuing the ticket, Shenzhen Securities Regulatory Bureau said that as an important “gatekeeper” of the capital market, law firms and practicing lawyers should be diligent and conscientious, provide professional and prudent legal services, and promote the improvement of the quality of information disclosure of listed companies.
The Shenzhen Securities Regulatory Bureau said it would continue to work with relevant departments to give full play to supervision, strict supervision and compaction of responsibilities, urge law firms and practicing lawyers to continuously improve their practice quality and compliance awareness, and escort the steady reform of the stock issuance registration system.
It is worth mentioning that the reporter noted that up to now, the regulators have not taken regulatory measures against one of the listed companies Shenzhen H&T Intelligent Control Co.Ltd(002402) involved. However, the company’s share price has achieved two consecutive positive since May 17, ending the performance of the previous consecutive negative days. According to the latest data, Shenzhen H&T Intelligent Control Co.Ltd(002402) has 71900 registered shareholders, which means that many ordinary investors have received real comfort.
A lawyer in Shanghai who asked not to be named told the financial associated press that such Oolong incidents are actually rare, which also sounded an alarm for listed companies and intermediary service institutions. All parties should pay attention to it. At present, the negative impact of this incident is more about reputation than actual losses. However, in the future, if the loss of shareholders is caused due to the error or violation of the announcement, the shareholders can claim compensation from the relevant responsible party.
Many lawyers interviewed and staff of listed companies also pointed out that the ticket has brought a strong warning effect. In particular, they will be careful in the process of participating in the letter phi.
supervision emphasizes that lessons should be learned
The financial Associated Press reporter noted that the wrong version of Shenzhen H&T Intelligent Control Co.Ltd(002402) released was updated in time on the night of May 16, but there were low-level errors in the updated announcement. In the “concluding comments”, there were two full stops after the sentence “this legal opinion is in three originals and takes effect after being signed and sealed by our lawyers”.
A lawyer admitted to the reporter that although the mistake should be criticized, it should be analyzed in detail on specific problems. It needs further observation on which link the mistake is in this time. “A temporary clerical error is very rare.”
Public information shows that Zhonglun law firm, founded in 1993, is one of the first partnership law firms approved by the Ministry of justice of China. After several years of rapid and steady development and growth, Zhonglun law firm has become one of the largest comprehensive law firms in China. Zhonglun has offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Tokyo and Hong Kong, as well as in many overseas countries. According to the data, so far, Beijing Zhonglun law firm [Note: including Beijing Zhonglun (Shenzhen) law firm)] has served as legal counsel for 355 A-share listed companies.
The financial Associated Press reporter noted that on December 23, 2021, Guangdong securities regulatory bureau decided to issue a warning letter to Beijing Zhonglun law firm, Xiong Chuan, Wang Zhen, Zhou Defang, ye Yunting and others. Guangdong securities regulatory bureau pointed out that Beijing Zhonglun law firm had two violations in the practice of Genimous Technology Co.Ltd(000676) related securities legal business of listed companies, such as the inconsistency between the content of the legal opinion issued and the facts, and the failure to perform the obligations of verification and verification diligently and prudently.
The Bureau said that the above institutions and personnel should seriously learn lessons, strictly perform their legal duties, strengthen the management of lawyers engaged in securities legal business, and improve the quality and professional level of legal practice.
