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Definitions

Corporate Action
A Corporate Action is a corporate event conducted by a listed company that affects its issued shares. Examples include consolidation of shares, subdivision of shares and change in board lot size. For some corporate actions, the issuer will make an announcement only and no shareholder action is required, whereas other corporate actions may allow shareholders to choose among options, such as dividend with scrip option and Rights issue.

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Event Description
We support the submission of 5 types of corporate actions through our online channel, including Dividend with option, Open offer, Company warrant exercise, Rights issue and Takeover.

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Online Reply Due Date
This is the last date for you to submit your corporate action instruction through our online channel.

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Entitled Quantity
This shows your initial entitlement as amended by any quantity traded by you subsequently in the market and that has already settled (if applicable) as at the close of the previous business day. For example, in a particular Rights issue, you initially received 1000 Rights entitlement and today you buy 200 Rights entitlement in the market. As the Rights entitlement is not settled, your entitled quantity would still show 1000. The entitled quantity will only be updated after settlement. For dividend corporate actions, Entitled Quantity refers to the number of shares for which you are entitled to dividend.

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Quantity Submitted
This covers the quantity for which you have already submitted corporate action instruction. If you have submitted your instruction by HSBC Personal Internet Banking, the 'Quantity Submitted' will be reflected on HSBC Personal Internet Banking immediately after your submission. If you have returned your corporate action instruction other than HSBC Personal Internet Banking (e.g. paper reply slip), the 'Quantity Submitted' displayed on HSBC Internet Banking will be reflected 1 business day after we processed your instruction.

If the quantity you submitted is more than your entitled quantity, the Bank shall regard the instruction(s) as applying to the maximum quantity of your entitlement.

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Excess Applied
This is only applicable to those corporate actions which allow excess application. It is the additional quantity of shares that you wish to apply for in excess of your entitled quantity for the corporate action. If you have submitted your instruction by HSBC Personal Internet Banking, the quantity of 'Excess Applied' will be reflected on HSBC Personal Internet Banking immediately after your submission. If you have returned your corporate action instruction other than HSBC Personal Internet Banking (e.g. paper reply slip), the quantity of 'Excess Applied' displayed on HSBC Personal Internet Banking will be reflected 1 business day after we processed your instruction.

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Reinvestment Price
Applicable to dividend with scrip option, this is the price used to calculate the number of new shares you are entitled if you choose to receive new shares as dividend.

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Any Questions?

What do I need to do if I want to complete the partial election (i.e. partially receive shares and partially receive cash) for dividend with option corporate action?
If you would like to receive your dividend in partial shares and partial cash, please input the number of shares of your INITIAL ENTITLEMENT that you would like to receive shares or cash.

For example:

Customers holding for ABC stock: 40,000 shares
stock dividend rate HKD0.21 per share
reinvestment price of new scrip dividend per share HKD8.0636


Example 1

If you would like to receive 51 scrip dividend and remaining in cash dividend.

Number of entitled shares to be input (round up)

Calculation method: Number of new scrip required dividend to be received x reinvestment price of new scrip dividend per share ÷ dividend per share rate)
51 x 8.0636 ÷ 0.21 = 1,958.30 (round up to 1,959)

Therefore, you should input 1,959 for number of shares payable in scrip shares and 38,041 for number of shares payable in cash.

Note: Above example represents dividend without income tax applies.

Example 2

If you would like to elect 10,000 entitled shares to receive new scrip dividend and remaining in cash dividend.

Number of new scrip required dividend to be received

Calculation method: Number of entitled shares to elect new scrip x dividend rate ÷ reinvestment price
10,000 x 0.21÷8.0636 = 260

(Fraction of one share will either be dropped or paid in cash depending on Company Announcement)

You should input 10,000 for number of shares payable in scrip shares and 30,000 for number of shares payable in cash

Note: Above example represents dividend without income tax applies.

I would like to submit instructions for the corporate action that I am entitled, but why it is not shown in the "Corporate Actions" page?
If the corporate action that you are entitled is not shown in the Corporate Actions page, please make sure you have selected the correct investment account and check that the bank's last date for reply has not yet passed.

The entitlement details will not be shown in the Corporate Actions page when either

  • your initial entitled quantity of Rights has already been sold and settled;
  • the quantity of Rights subsequently purchased by you in the market during the trading period which has not yet settled; or
  • the quantity of Rights is purchased within the 3 trading days before its last trading day

If you cannot submit instructions using our online Corporate Action services. Please visit any of our branches or call our Phonebanking hotline (852)2233 3322 for HSBC Premier customers or (852)2233 3000 for Other Personal Banking customers for assistance.

How do I exercise the Rights purchased in the trading period?
You can exercise your original Rights entitlement or the additional Rights purchased from the market by selecting the 'All' option in the Corporate Actions Instruction screen.
All your available Rights held in your investment account upon cut off date will be taken as your instructed quantity.

For example, you have 1,000 initial Rights entitlement and have purchased another additional 2,000 Rights from the market during the trading period. You can exercise maximum of 3,000 Rights by select the 'All' option in the Corporate Actions Instruction screen.

Note: If you do not have any Rights entitlement initially (or sold out all the initial Rights entitlement) and subsequently bought Rights in the market on online reply due date, you will not be able to submit instructions using our online Corporate Action Services. You should proactively submit the instruction to us if you want to exercise the Rights. Please visit any of our branches to submit the instruction on the reply due date set by our Bank or contact our PhoneBanking (852)2233 3322 for HSBC Premier customers or (852)2233 3000 for Other Personal Banking customers.

How can I make application for excess Rights Share if excess application is allowed in Rights issue?
If the listed company allows excess application by qualifying shareholders (those with initial Rights entitlement) for the unsold/unexercised Rights Shares, you can apply the excess application by filling in "Excess application : Number of additional shares to apply for" field in the Corporate Actions instruction input page. Please note that this field should not be used for exercising the Rights entitlement or the Rights you subsequently purchased from the market in the trading period.

For example, you have 1,000 initial Rights entitlement and you want to make excess application of 5,000 Rights share. You can input 1,000 in the "Number of Rights share to take up" or select the 'All' option to exercise the entitled Rights and 5,000 in the "Excess application: Number of additional shares to apply for" field in the Corporate Actions instruction input page.

Please note that although the bank acts on behalf of various individual clients, the company considers the bank to be a single shareholder and therefore allows us to lodge one excess application form only. In the event that the issue is over subscribed and allotments are scaled back, our distributions of excess shares to applicants may not necessarily be the same as those published by the company.

How can I find the reply due date on Corporate action set by the bank?
You can refer to the corporate action advice that we sent to you by eAdvice (if you are an eStatement/eAdvice service user) or by mail; or you can refer to the Corporate Action page of HSBC Personal Internet Banking. If necessary, you can contact us for assistance.

Note: If you have already received a corporate action advice of the initial Rights entitlement and subsequently purchased further Rights, or if you purchase the Rights within 3 trading days before the last trade day of the Rights, no corporate action advice will be sent to you. In addition, the corporate action advice (if you are not an eStatement/eAdvice user) may not reach you on time due to delay by post. If you have any enquiry regarding on the submission of instruction on corporate actions to the Bank and its deadline, please contact our branch or phonebanking (852)2233 3322 for HSBC Premier customers or (852)2233 3000 for Other Personal Banking customers for further assistance.

How can I check out the details of the corporate action if I subsequently purchase share/Rights from the market in the trading period?
You will receive our corporate action advice for the details after the purchase of the Rights from the market during the trading period. However if you have already received corporate action advice for the initial Rights entitlement and subsequently purchased further Rights, or if you purchase the Rights within 3 trading days before the last trade day of the Rights, no corporate action advice will be sent to you. In addition, the corporate action advice (if you are not an eStatement/eAdvice user) may not reach you on time due to delay by post.

You should visit the Hong Kong Stock Exchange website (http://www.hkexnews.hk/index.htm) for the company announcements, circulars and other documents issued by the listed company relating to the corporate action of the stock for the details. Please also check out the due date on submitting instruction to the Bank. If necessary, please contact our branch or phonebanking (852)2233 3322 for HSBC Premier customers or (852)2233 3000 for Other Personal Banking customers for further assistance.

What can I do if I forget to submit the request before the bank's reply due date but it is still before the Company deadline?
You should visit the Hong Kong Stock Exchange website (http://www.hkexnews.hk/index.htm) for the company announcements, circulars and other documents issued by the listed company relating to the corporate action of the stock for the details. Please also check out the due date on submitting instruction to the Bank. If necessary, please contact us for assistance.

Where can I find more information before submitting instructions for the respective corporate actions?
You can refer to the corporate action advice that we sent to you for reference. In addition, you should always carefully read the announcements, circulars and other documents issued by the listed company relating to the corporate action before submitting your instructions. Please visit the Hong Kong Stock Exchange website for copies of these documents.
http://www.hkexnews.hk/index.htm

What if I submit instructions for more than my entitled quantity?
If your instructions are for more than your entitled quantity, we shall regard your instruction as applicable to your total entitlement. However, if there is insufficient fund in your specified debit account, the Bank shall have the discretion to stop processing any or all your instructions without prior notice.

Can I amend or cancel my submitted instruction?
Yes, you can submit amendment or cancellation instruction(s) via HSBC Personal Internet Banking on or before the online reply date or by returning reply slip on or before Due date stated on Corporate Action Advice.

If you have submitted a cancellation instruction and do not submit a new instruction by Reply Due Date of the Corporate Action, we will act according to the standing instruction you have submitted earlier (if any) or else we will take default option of the Corporate Action as your selection.

What will happen if I submit multiple instructions across same channel for the same Corporate Event?
If you have submitted multiple instructions via same channel for the same Corporate Event, your last instruction submitted before the reply due date of each Corporate Event shall prevail and supersede any other previous instruction(s) submitted.

What will happen if I submit multiple instructions across different channels for the same Corporate Event?
If you have submitted multiple instructions via different channels for the same Corporate Event, your last instruction submitted via HSBC Personal Internet Banking before reply due date of each Corporate Event received by the Bank shall prevail and supersede such other instruction(s) submitted. Instruction submitted by non-online channels received after online instruction will not be processed.

How do I submit disposal instruction?
If shares (e.g. foreign shares distributed out of a local stock) distributed by a Corporate Event which is not supported by custodian services of respective securities account, you may dispose the shares to other HSBC account (e.g. Overseas Securities Account if applicable) by inputting your 'HSBC Investment Account No.' field under the Disposal Instruction section in the Corporate Actions Instruction screen. Alternatively, you may choose to dispose your shares to other custodian by filling in the 'Custodian Name' and 'Account Number in Custodian'. If we fail to dispose your shares due to wrong input or any other reasons, we will contact you for follow up. Please ensure you input your contact telephone number on the instruction input page and maintain updated contact information with us.

Why was my corporate action instruction not processed?
After submitting your instruction, please make sure you have maintained sufficient funds in your selected settlement account by the debit date specified in the relevant corporate action advice. In addition, please ensure your instruction matches with the entitled quantity in your investment account. Otherwise the bank shall have the discretion to stop processing any or all your instructions without prior notice.

I have traded shares/Rights in the market but the figure shown in the Entitled Quantity column of the 'Corporate Actions' page has not been updated?
The Entitled Quantity shows your initial entitlement as amended by any quantity traded by you subsequently in the market and that has already settled (if applicable) as at the close of the previous business day. For example, in a particular Rights issue, you initially received 1000 Rights entitlement and today you buy 200 Rights entitlement in the market. As the Rights entitlement is not settled, your entitled quantity would still show 1000. The entitled quantity will only be updated after settlement.

Note: If you do not have any entitlement initially and subsequently buy shares/Rights in the market on the last trading day, you will not be able to submit instructions using our online corporate action services. Please visit any of our branches to submit the instruction for your entitlement before the reply due date.

Why is the 'Entitled Quantity' displayed on HSBC Internet Banking different from my initial entitlement and my 'Submitted Quantity' become zero after my instruction submitted?
For some take over Corporate Events, your instructions received by HSBC will be submitted to Central Clearing and Settlement System ('CCASS') periodically. Your Entitled Quantity & Quantity Submitted will be subtracted from your submitted quantity (if any) after your instruction is processed on each weekly cut off date. If you have any outstanding quantity after submission, new instruction(s) of the outstanding quantity are still accepted thereafter until Reply Due Date.

For example, instruction submission period of Take over Corporate Event for Stock A is 1 Dec 2018 to 21 Dec 2018.

Your initial entitlement is 1,000 shares. You have submitted the following instructions:

Date Customer instruction Entitled Quantity displayed Quantity Submitted displayed cut off dates Remarks
06-Dec-18 Submit an instruction with 200 shares 1,000 200 1st cut off date: 7 Dec 2018 Quantity Submitted is updated to '200' upon your instruction.
08-Dec-18 No instruction was submitted 800 0 2nd cut off date: 14 Dec 2018 Entitled Quantity displayed are subtracted from your submitted quantity (i.e.1,000-200 = 800 shares); Quantity Submitted is reset to zero after first cut off date on 07 Dec 2018.
09-Dec-18 Submit an instruction with 400 shares 800 400 You still have 800 shares outstanding for submission after the first cut off date on 07 Dec 2018. Quantity Submitted is updated to '400' after your instruction.
10-Dec-18 Submit an amendment instruction with 200 shares 800 200 Quantity Submitted is updated to '200' upon your amendment instruction.
15-Dec-18 No instruction was submitted 600 0 Final instruction deadline: 21 Dec 2018 Entitled Quantity displayed are subtracted from your submitted quantity (i.e.800-200 = 600 shares); Quantity Submitted is reset to zero after second cut off date on 14 Dec 2018. New instruction(s) of the outstanding quantity (600 shares) are still accepted until the final instruction deadline.

Note: Instructions submitted to CCASS cannot be amended or cancelled. Once your instruction is submitted, your entitled quantity will be on hold and you cannot trade the shares in the market.

When will the payment (e.g. dividend) of US securities be received ?
The actual payment date of US stock payment (if any, e.g. dividend) is subject to the date of payment received from the relevant custodian which may sometimes occur beyond the date of payment as announced in the relevant market due to time zone difference and the timing of confirmation by relevant paying agent/custodian.

How can I find more information about other corporate actions?
This "Corporation Actions" page only shows corporate actions in respect of your share holdings and that require your instructions. You may go to the "Market Information" section and select "Corporate Events" to obtain more information about other corporate events in the market.

How can I contact the bank?
You can visit any of our branches or call our Phonebanking hotline (852)2233 3322 for HSBC Premier customers or (852)2233 3000 for Other Personal Banking customers.

If you have any other queries not covered by the above FAQ, please contact us for assistance.