According to a report, the Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, Julia Leung, recently stated that the plan to integrate the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) with the Main Board is still under consideration.

She further pointed out that Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (ASX: 00388) will launch a public consultation on this proposal to widely gather opinions from all sectors of the market.

Earlier market reports revealed that HKEX is actively studying the feasibility of merging the two boards, hoping to enhance the overall attractiveness and operational efficiency of Hong Kong's capital market by streamlining the listing framework.

As of September 24, HKEX had a total of 2,767 listed companies, including 2,461 on the Main Board and 306 on GEM, with market capitalizations of HK$455,820 billion and HK$745 billion respectively.

PricewaterhouseCoopers previously expected that Hong Kong's total IPO fundraising for the full year of 2026 could reach HK$380 billion, which is 8.6% to 18.8% higher than the initial forecast of HK$320 billion to HK$350 billion at the beginning of the year, and is expected to firmly rank among the world's top three IPO markets, with the bank believing that the strong momentum will continue into 2027.

Despite short-term challenges in the market such as geopolitical tensions, inflation, and interest rate fluctuations, the bank remains full of confidence in the growth momentum of Hong Kong's IPO market.