Factbox: Major finance milestones as Hong Kong marks 25 years since handover

A normal view of Two Global Finance Centre (IFC), HSBC headquarters and Bank of China in Hong Kong, China July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

HONG KONG, June 28 (Reuters) – Hong Kong returned to China in 1997 just after 156 yrs of British colonial rule. Here are some main milestones for the city’s money marketplaces:

HONG KONG Dollar Trading BAND

The Hong Kong greenback was pegged to the U.S. dollar on October 17, 1983, with a buying and selling band of concerning 7.75 and 7.85 for each US greenback imposed due to the fact 2005. The Hong Kong Financial Authority (HKMA), the city’s de-facto central bank, regularly enters the current market to acquire or offer the forex to hold it inside the band.

Twin HONG KONG AND MAINLAND LISTINGS

Industrial and Professional Financial institution of China (601398.SS) turned the very first company to execute an IPO simultaneously in Shanghai and Hong Kong in 2006 when it issued A-shares and H-shares to raise US$21.9 billion, the greatest deal in the entire world at the time.

Inventory, BOND AND Prosperity Link

Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect was designed in 2014 to offer mutual entry among the equity markets of Hong Kong and mainland China. Two years afterwards, the programme was expanded to Hong Kong and Shenzhen Stock Link, which authorized mainland traders access to lesser firms in Hong Kong and global buyers entry to new overall economy firms outlined in Shenzhen. The hook up programmes now deal with about 2000 stocks, according to Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). In May, China’s securities regulator agreed to incorporate trade-traded funds (ETFs) in stock connect programmes with Hong Kong.

In 2017, Bond Join was launched to replicate the equity strategies and permit overseas buyers to spend by using Hong Kong in China’s multi-trillion bond current market. The Northbound Bond Link has come to be a important channel for international buyers in search of access to China’s bond current market. In September last year, China mentioned it would allow its investors to trade offshore financial debt with the opening of the “Southbound” leg of its Bond Hook up channel.

Wealth Management Join launched in September 2021, linking China’s southern province of Guangdong with Hong Kong and Macau, to allow for cross-border cash management. The programme enables citizens of Hong Kong and Macau to purchase mainland expenditure items offered by financial institutions in the Better Bay Location, although enabling people of 9 Guangdong towns to invest in all those bought by banking institutions in the two offshore centres. browse much more

WEIGHTED VOTING Rights

Hong Kong Stock Exchange declared in 2018 it would allow organizations with twin-course shares – or weighted voting rights – if they are regarded to be “progressive”, in a move designed to aid listings from emerging business sectors. The conclusion was explained by the law organization Skadden as the most important change to Hong Kong’s listing regulations in 20 years.

WAVE OF SECONDARY LISTINGS

The weighted voting rights variations in 2018 prompted a wave of secondary – or homecoming listings – which kicked off with Alibaba Group in November 2019. The Jack Ma-launched e-commerce giant lifted $12.9 billion in the offer that was the largest share sale in Hong Kong at the time for nine yrs. Because then, 18 businesses have elevated $42.3 billion, in accordance to Refintiv knowledge. The tempo of homecoming listings has remained solid as Chinese organizations buying and selling in New York get ready contingency strategies as U.S authorities press in advance with delisting companies that really don’t meet up with regulators’ auditing requirements. read through far more

FUTURES

HKEX launched its MSCI A-share index futures product in 2021, an try to satisfy need from traders in Chinese stocks for hedging resources at a time of surging volatility.

Special Goal ACQUISITION Organizations (SPACs)

Hong Kong Inventory Trade permitted Distinctive Purpose Acquisition Corporations (SPACs), regarded also as blank cheque companies, to start out buying and selling from January 1, 2022, in line with most other important markets in the globe.

However, tight limits on the style of traders which could purchase into the SPACs and banning retail participation dented demand for the items alongside with the latest bout of current market volatility.

Only two SPACs have mentioned given that the commence of the 12 months. browse a lot more

Reporting by Scott Murdoch Modifying by Anne Marie Roantree and Gerry Doyle

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