澳大利亚企业监管机构正在向投资银行寻求信息，了解本月初 Firmus Grid Ltd. 首次公开募股（IPO）失败的情况，但尚未对该事项启动正式调查。
Australia’s corporate regulator is seeking information from investment banks on the failed Firmus Grid Ltd. initial public offering earlier this month, stopping short of opening a formal investigation into the matter.
澳大利亚证券与投资委员会（ASIC）主席 Sarah Court 在 10 月 28 日的一封回复信中表示，ASIC “正在进行有针对性的询问”，询问对象为该 IPO 的联席主承销商。这封信是回复参议员 Dave Sharma 本月初发出的信函，后者在信中对 Firmus IPO 提出了质疑。Court 表示：“这些询问正在进行中，ASIC 将考虑所获取的信息，并判断是否需要进一步处理。”
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission “is making targeted inquiries,” of the joint lead managers on the IPO,” Sarah Court, ASIC chair, said in a Oct. 28 letter responding to correspondence earlier this month from Senator Dave Sharma that raised questions concerning the Firmus IPO. “These inquiries are ongoing and ASIC will consider the information obtained and whether any further consideration is warranted,” Court said.
该交易的联席主承销商为美国银行、摩根大通、摩根士丹利和 Morgans Financial Ltd.。美国银行、摩根大通和摩根士丹利的发言人均拒绝置评，Morgans 代表未回复置评请求。
The joint lead managers on the deal were Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley and Morgans Financial Ltd. Spokespeople for BofA, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley declined to comment, while a representative for Morgans didn’t reply to a request for comment.
Sharma 于 10 月 13 日首次致信 ASIC，敦促其就这笔失败的交易采取行动。此前在推介过程中曾释放出看好信号，包括参与该交易的部分银行暗示发行已超额认购。Court 的这封信是在 ASIC 工作人员上周表示监管机构正在对失败的上市进行早期询问之后发出的。
Sharma initially wrote to ASIC on Oct. 13 pressing for action on the failed deal, which followed bullish signals during its marketing that included some of the banks working on the deal to imply the offering was oversubscribed. Court’s letter follows comments last week from ASIC staff that the regulator was making early inquiries into the failed listing.
Court 在信中表示：“我们期望主承销商对投资者需求的陈述有合理依据，妥善保存簿记建档和配售决策的记录，管理利益冲突，并在资本募集过程中投资者需求发生重大变化时及时更新投资者。”
“We expect lead managers to have a reasonable basis for representations about investor demand, keep appropriate records of bookbuild and allocation decisions, manage conflicts of interest, and update investors if demand changes materially during the capital-raising process,” Court said in the letter.
Firmus 计划在上市中募集约 50 亿澳元，公司估值约 300 亿澳元——这一规模本将使其成为澳大利亚历史上最大的 IPO 之一。该交易随后告吹，反映出投资者对估值的担忧，并波及全球，导致同类上市公司股价走弱，并迫使其他公司推迟自己的 IPO 计划。
Firmus was set to raise around $5 billion in the listing, valuing the company at about $30 billion — a magnitude that would have made it one of the largest IPOs in Australian history. The deal’s subsequent collapse reflected investor unease over the valuation and rippled around the world, weakening listed peers and prompting others to delay their own IPO plans.
法院在这封四页的信中还指出，Firmus 首次公开募股（IPO）失败并不一定意味着存在任何不当行为。
Court also noted in the four-page letter that the failed Firmus IPO is not indicative necessarily of any wrongdoing.
她说：“虽然澳大利亚证券投资委员会（ASIC）认识到公众和媒体对 Firmus IPO 给予了相当大的关注，但拟议交易未能上市这一事实，不应被必然解读为市场失败或不当行为的迹象。机构投资者的充分谈判、审查和质询是融资过程的重要特征，对于有效的价格发现至关重要，也有助于做出充满信心且知情的投资决策。” 《澳大利亚人报》早些时候报道了 ASIC 这封信的细节。
“While ASIC recognizes the considerable public and media attention surrounding the Firmus IPO, the fact that the proposed transaction did not proceed to listing should not necessarily be interpreted as a market failure or indicative of wrongdoing,” she said. “Robust negotiation, scrutiny and challenge by institutional investors are important features of the capital raising process, necessary for effective price discovery and supportive of confident and informed investment decisions.”The Australian newspaper earlier reported details of the ASIC letter.