Exchanges/Platforms

Brace for a $600 bln Chinese escape from New York

22 Dec 2021

Mainland-based companies with U.S. listings face regulatory fire from both Beijing and Washington. Retreats are accelerating, as ride-hailing outfit Didi joins the exodus mere months after its $4 bln IPO. Hong Kong offers one clear route, but there will be a wave of buyouts too.

Turkey’s lira prop-up plan is dangerous

21 Dec 2021

President Tayyip Erdogan is guaranteeing deposits against local currency drops. It’s tacit admission Turkey’s banks aren’t immune to fallout from his odd views on inflation and interest rates. Details are fuzzy but putting taxpayers on the hook for the lira is asking for trouble.

Shanghai’s tech board gets welcome IPO flop

16 Dec 2021

The biggest listing on the overheated STAR market this year bombed as shares of biotech giant BeiGene fell 16% on their debut. That finally adds risk to a once-safe bet on triple-digit first-day pops. Regulators fretting about the speculative stock mania can relax a bit.

Richard Li pays steep price for round-trip fare

15 Dec 2021

His Hong Kong-based insurer FWD has raised $1.4 bln from Apollo and others as its $13 bln New York IPO plan fizzles. A 30% valuation discount reflects the need to keep investors sweet ahead of a likely listing back home instead. Super-voting stock also will have to be scrapped.

U.S. blacklist puts China AI into local mode

14 Dec 2021

Artificial intelligence startup SenseTime is delaying its $800 mln Hong Kong IPO after the mid-deal shock of Washington’s investment ban. Foreign backers can be mostly replaced by mainland money. But the boycott ends the sector’s global ambitions and accelerates tech decoupling.

Cancer biotech’s triple listing has singular risk

13 Dec 2021

Beigene is raising $3.3 bln on Shanghai’s STAR market, making it the first company to trade there and in New York and Hong Kong. That suits its ambition to be seen as a global business and gives it enviable funding options. But its listing largesse is at the mercy of geopolitics.

Capital Calls: Wise, Swedish oil

30 Nov 2021

Concise views on global finance: The 8 bln pound money-changer raised its revenue targets; $10 bln Swedish oil company Lundin Energy may be considering M&A options.

Capital Calls: Moderna’s $40 bln shot gain

29 Nov 2021

Concise views on global finance: News of a spreading Covid-19 variant added $40 bln to the biotech’s market value. Investors are pricing in about 3 billion extra jabs. That’s rosy given competition and uncertainty.

Glasgow’s carbon market overhaul is only half done

18 Nov 2021

The U.N.’s COP26 summit agreed tougher accounting standards for emissions credits, a market ex-BoE Governor Mark Carney hopes can swell to $100 bln a year. It’s a step forward, but loopholes remain. Companies that don’t like greenwashing have a strong incentive to help police it.

Capital Calls: CalPERS and private equity, Art market

16 Nov 2021

Concise views on global finance: The biggest U.S. public pension fund is taking on more risk; works collected by the Macklowes sold for $676 million on Monday in a reminder that the richest have prospered through the pandemic.

Euronext and Nasdaq can scratch backs in Europe

8 Nov 2021

After buying Borsa Italiana, the $12 billion pan-EU exchange needs another deal. Nasdaq’s Nordic business, worth say $3 bln, is an ideal target. Euronext boss Stéphane Boujnah will need to convince the U.S. group’s CEO Adena Friedman that a sale could accelerate her data pivot.

Capital Calls: Hedge funds, Rogers, Inmarsat

8 Nov 2021

Concise views on global finance: The industry’s assets are above a new threshold, but it’s a business reaching a limit; the head of the Canadian telecom giant has won a court victory; U.S. rival Viasat pulls the UK-based satellite operator into its orbit for a pricey $7.4 bln.

Crypto puts U.S. and El Salvador in the same boat

18 Oct 2021

Hispanic and Black people are top American owners of digital currencies. Discrimination and lagging access to financial services are drivers and are among the better reasons why the Central American nation turned to bitcoin. It’s a lost opportunity for traditional banks.

Russian IPO salad hides some dodgy ingredients

18 Oct 2021

Helped by a global boom, new listings by the country’s companies are at their most active since 2007. Investors are more used to sanctions risk, while Covid-19 has spruced up hopefuls such as real estate website Cian. Others, like St Petersburg’s bourse, may be lumpy leftovers.

London’s IPO revamp gets its cautionary tale

18 Oct 2021

THG’s founder is giving up his golden share in the stricken online retailer, just as regulators prepare to make it easier for executives to keep control after listing. It’s a timely reminder of the benefits of “one-share-one-vote” governance. It’s not too late to turn back.

Capital Calls: Facebook, TeamViewer, Audio M&A

6 Oct 2021

Concise views on global finance: Whistleblower Frances Haugen’s polished rollout is a warning for Big Tech; the video software specialist’s 25% share price fall shows the perils of growth stocks; hearing aid group GN snaps up headset maker SteelSeries for $1.3 bln.

Beijing puts misplaced stock in new exchange

7 Sep 2021

President Xi is launching a bourse in China’s capital to fund small firms. It could bolster the fortunes of its parent, the New Third Board, which targets the same companies. But diverting liquidity from Shanghai and Shenzhen into a new pool will leave businesses no better off.

China market woes put hedgers in the driver’s seat

23 Aug 2021

More policy and regulatory pressure erased $560 bln of market value in a week. Some investors may flee as former darlings are hit. But many state-owned stocks are hurting less, and Monday cheer for a new offshore futures contract suggests more rethinking than a general retreat.

BHP’s Brexit should fare better than Unilever’s

18 Aug 2021

The $170 bln miner’s decision to collapse its dual-listed structure will require UK investors to swap their shares for foreign ones. When the Anglo-Dutch consumer group tried that in 2018, investors kicked up a fuss. The value proposition of BHP’s gambit looks more enticing.

Hong Kong bourse needs Beijing to calm down

11 Aug 2021

A bumper first-half profit thanks to record trading volumes and an IPO flood help justify the $84 bln group’s premium over rival exchanges, at 41 times forecast earnings. But such optimism won’t survive more regulatory mood swings, and HKEX has no way to hedge them.