Does the new round of Company Law revision in China affect market reaction to share repurchase announcements?

Abstract

ABSTRACT Share repurchase becomes prevalent in the recent years in China, and China gradually changes its regulatory attitude from restriction to encouragement on it. In this paper, we present that the new round of Company Law revision in China reduces the signalling role of share repurchases; however, when the firms deliver good signals on dividends payout, the negative link between regulatory changes and market reaction to share repurchases becomes weaker. The paper sheds lights on the most up-to-date regulatory change in terms of share repurchases in China and its effect on market reaction to share repurchases.