Over the summer, the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (HKEX) released a fascinating, but little noticed, survey detailing cash trading on its two listing platforms, the Main Board and GEM. The survey also included southbound trading undertaken through the Shanghai-Hong Kong and Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect schemes, launched in 2014 and December 2016, respectively. read
Something quite extraordinary has just been happening in Singapore. For the first time in several years, investors in the city-state have been able to punt on a local, multi-billion-dollar IPO. read
Just as the country’s prime minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, met with Donald Trump on a US tour, Vietnam’s equity capital markets were repeatedly in the news over the last few weeks, with a flurry of IPOs and new listings, heralding that issuers there may finally be coming of age. read
In December, I reviewed the disappointing volumes last year for primary equity issuance in Southeast Asia, and wondered whether 2016 could be the year when ECM bankers who cover the region become busy again. With the Chinese bourses now in free fall, the authorities there repeatedly depreciating the Yuan in a bid to prop up the economy, and an extension of the ban on equity sales by large investors in Shanghai and Shenzhen, market participants could indeed well turn their attention down South again. read
The last few months have been a bit of a roller coaster for Chinese equities, both on the mainland and in Hong Kong. The sharp volatility in the indices has frightened investors away and put a damper on primary issuance. But the bubble finally bursting is symptomatic that further changes are badly needed. These also need to be more than just skin deep. read
China-based investment bank China International Capital Corporation (CICC) filed the application for its proposed IPO on the stock exchange of Hong Kong on 22 July. That should put it on track for a hearing by the Listing Committee around the last week of August. But while CICC is the country’s oldest investment bank and has an impeccable pedigree, it has fallen behind new players who have been quicker to adapt to a changing marketplace, and will likely be priced at a conservative valuation. read
There seems to be no end in sight for the Asian ECM bout of depression. Above all, it’s been a pretty miserable year so far for IPOs, in sharp contrast to new listings activity in other parts of the world. read
I was, again, solicited by the financial media this morning, to comment on the IPO trading debut of PICC Group’s US$3.09 billion IPO. read
I was interviewed today by Assistant Producer Ansuya Harjani for an article entitled “Is IPO Fever Returning To the Hong Kong Market?” – just published on CNBC.com. read
I was interviewed on CNBC’s “The Call” this morning by anchors Bernie Lo and Emily Chan on what’s in store for investors with the IPO in Hong Kong of mainland Chinese insurer PICC Group. read
