A review of the theoretical foundations for the continuous disclosure regime between Australia and China: contributing factors for Chinese cross-border listed companies’ continuous disclosure performance in Australia?

Chinese companies are struggling to meet the continuous disclosure requirements of the ASX and have even been depicted as having poor corporate governance and transparency. Many get delisted from the ASX due to non-compliance in continuous disclosure or are rejected from listing because of continuous disclosure compliance concerns. This article reviews the historical, economic and political underpinnings of the securities markets to highlight the divergence in theoretical foundations of the continuous disclosure regimes in the two countries. The starting point is the evolution and underlying theoretical rationales of both continuous disclosure regimes, which sheds light on similarities and differences between the two jurisdictions, and is followed by a critical review of the implications of the divergence in theoretical foundations for the level of Chinese cross-border listed companies continuous disclosure compliance in Australia. The article concludes that such divergence is one of the factors causing Chinese cross-border listed companies’ non-compliant continuous disclosure in Australia.