IPOs Cancelled As China Toughens Regulations

A sudden change in Chinese securities regulations was enough to make five companies cancel their IPOs on Monday. The China Securities Regulatory Commission announced it would start investigations of companies doing IPOs to be sure executives marketing their shares were not disclosing information to investors that was not included in public stock exchange filings. The commission said firms looking to sell shares at higher values than industry average would get additional scrutiny as well, with the possibility that uncooperative companies could be barred from selling shares to the public. The changes are frustrating for many who celebrated when China announced it would end its one-year moratorium on IPOs late last year.