According to the Zhitong Finance App, the United States Group (01200) issued an announcement stating that the Competition Commission specifically initiated legal proceedings against the company and some of the group's subsidiaries and personnel in the Competition Tribunal, accusing them of violating and/or participating in the violation of the first code of conduct set out in section 6 of the Competition Ordinance, Chapter 619 of the Laws of Hong Kong. The company notes that the Competition Commission has also accused other estate agents of participating in the alleged irregularities, but has exempted such entities from legal proceedings.

The company attaches great importance to the incident and has always paid attention to the full compliance of the Group's operations, and will vigorously defend its position. The company reserves the right to challenge different aspects of the legal process in appropriate circumstances. The company is seeking legal advice on legal proceedings. The Company will closely monitor and assess the potential impact of the legal process on the Group on the progress of the incident, and will continue to explore all avenues of action that can best protect the value of the company's stakeholders and the livelihoods of its employees. The company will make another announcement in due course. Currently, the Group's business operations and financial situation remain fully normal.

In these challenging times, the Group works tirelessly to protect the company's business, industry, and livelihoods that depend on it. While striving to provide quality services, great sacrifices have been made, including strict measures such as cost control and manpower reduction.

Despite the company's best efforts, the company industry is still facing unprecedented difficulties. The number of property registrations in 2022 has fallen to a new low since 1991, and customs clearance between the two places brought only a moderate recovery in the first few months of this year. The volume of residential transactions continued to decline sharply. In October 2023 alone, property transactions fell to at least 3,000, making it difficult for many agents to survive. The shrinking market activity is also threatening the future of many agents.

As the backbone of Hong Kong's economy, the property market makes a significant contribution to the gross domestic product. Existing problems in the industry must be properly addressed, otherwise it may face a long-term downturn and greater risk. In order to meet these challenges, the Group strongly advocates slowing down measures to curb demand in the property market, as such measures were initially implemented in a very different market environment.

The company's top priority is to persevere through the current difficult period, to ensure that the company's dedicated team can return to work when market conditions improve, and that the company will continue to strive for stable long-term development.

The company has applied to the Stock Exchange to resume stock trading from 9:00 a.m. on November 15, 2023 (Wednesday).