Bull market sparks IPO revival: Are in-house counsel up to the challenge?

The recovery in the world’s capital markets has put initial public offerings back on the agenda. For in-house counsel, an IPO can be a once-in-a-lifetime challenge

By Julia Zhu

As the financial tsunami which hit in the second half of 2008 has subsided, capital markets across the globe have come back to life. Of these, the recovery of the Hong Kong and mainland Chinese markets has been particularly evident (see Top 20 China IPOs, page 26).

After a long, cold winter, the time may now be right for companies to take advantage of the thaw. But for in-house legal teams, two big questions remain: where to list, and how?

Home or away

“If a company is preparing to list either at home or overseas,” says Li Yuanyang, a partner at JC Master Law Offices, “it first needs to consider the specific requirements of the exchanges on which it might list, and combine this with an analysis of the company’s situation, in order to decide whether the company can list and on which exchange.”