NYSE starts process of delisting three Chinese telco companies

 

FILE PHOTO: The U.S. flag is seen on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) following Election Day in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., November 4, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

 

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The New York Stock Exchange is starting the process of delisting securities of three Chinese telecom companies, after President Donald Trump last month barred U.S. investments in Chinese firms Washington says are owned or controlled by the military.

 

The move https://ir.theice.com/press/news-details/2020/NYSE-to-Commence-Delisting-Proceedings-in-Securities-of-Three-Issuers-to-Comply-with-Executive-Order-13959/default.aspx by the NYSE, which will limit U.S. investor access, follows global index providers MSCI Inc, S&P Dow Jones Indices and FTSE Russell and Nasdaq deleting various Chinese companies from their indexes.

 

It's "a modest step, but at least an awakening to national security and human rights-related risk”, said Roger Robinson, a former White House official who supports curbing Chinese access to U.S. investors.

 

NYSE said that the issuers, China Telecom Corporation Limited , China Mobile Limited <0941.HK> and China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited , were no longer suitable for listing as the order prohibits any transactions in securities "designed to provide investment exposure to such securities, of any Communist Chinese military company, by any United States person."

 

Trump's November executive order impacts some of China's biggest companies https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2434513/dod-releases-list-of-additional-companies-in-accordance-with-section-1237-of-fy.

 

The order sought to give teeth to a 1999 law that mandated that the Department of Defense compile a list of Chinese military companies. The Pentagon, which only complied with the mandate this year, has so far designated 35 companies, including oil company CNOOC Ltd and China’s top chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.

 

China has condemned that ban, and fund managers have said it could benefit non-U.S. investors able to pick up the stocks.

 

NYSE said that it would suspend trading in the stocks on either Jan. 7 or Jan. 11. The issuers have a right to a review of the decision. Each of the telecoms companies named by the NYSE also has a listing in Hong Kong.

 

China Telecom is also under fire from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which said earlier in December that it had begun the process of revoking the company's authorization to operate in the United States.

 

The companies could not be reached for comment on a public holiday in China.

 

Ties between Washington and Beijing have grown increasingly antagonistic over the past year as the world's top two economies sparred over Beijing's handling of the coronavirus outbreak, imposition of a national security law in Hong Kong and rising tensions in the South China Sea.

 

Separately, President Donald Trump signed a law last month that would kick Chinese companies off U.S. stock exchanges unless they adhere to American auditing standards. Market participants said this would intensify a rush by U.S.-listed Chinese firms to seek back up listings in Hong Kong.

 

(Reporting by Megan Davies in New York and Alexandra Alper in Washington; additional reporting by Alun John in Hong Kong and Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Kim Coghill)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-01-01

 

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No Chinese companies in my stock portfolio.  Sounds right to me.

Thank you, President Trump!

59 minutes ago, Kelsall said:

Thank you, President Trump!

Yeah. Such an incredible win. Done in a year where 350,000 Americans died.

 

Terrible leader.

Chinese companies listed on US exchanges have a history of less than stellar accounting, so this move should come as no surprise.  Wall Street demands open books and forthright numbers. Would Joe Biden have done this, or given them a pass?

Edited January 2, 20215 yr by Isaan sailor

5 minutes ago, Isaan sailor said:

Chinese companies listed on US exchanges have a history of less than stellar accounting, so this move should come as no surprise.  Wall Street demands open books and forthright numbers. Would Joe Biden have done this, or given them a pass?

We all know the answer to your question.

36 minutes ago, Kelsall said:

We all know the answer to your question.

Guaranteed.  Biden wouldn't give them a pass.  Unlike Trump who helped his daughter receive a number of patents in a record time.  Talk about corruption.  And it's well documented.

Purely symbolic and for MAGA consumption. Stocks of the Chinese telecom companies are valued investments by institutional investors. Share prices hardly moved. Will only benefit the HKSE and Europe and soon to be listed in Singapore. 

1 hour ago, Eric Loh said:

Purely symbolic and for MAGA consumption. Stocks of the Chinese telecom companies are valued investments by institutional investors. Share prices hardly moved. Will only benefit the HKSE and Europe and soon to be listed in Singapore. 

Excellent post and quite true.

Who do they think they are dealing with?

It reminds me of the well-known line from the movie Giant spoken about the James Dean character..."We should have killed him when he was poor - now he's too rich to kill".

21 hours ago, rooster59 said:

The order sought to give teeth to a 1999 law that mandated that the Department of Defense compile a list of Chinese military companies. The Pentagon, which only complied with the mandate this year,

 

22 years late???   Be interesting to hear how exactly it comes to pass that the U.S. enacts a law in 1999 and it's ignored for 20+ years and nothing's done to enforce its provisions?

4 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

Purely symbolic and for MAGA consumption. Stocks of the Chinese telecom companies are valued investments by institutional investors. Share prices hardly moved. Will only benefit the HKSE and Europe and soon to be listed in Singapore. 

I don't agree. Before Xi Jin Ping, there was more transparency, so there were public filings in the vein of practices in the US, so even though US accounting firms could not directly audit Chinese companies listed in the US, independent investigators (also short sellers) such as Muddy Waters could cross check and discover discrepancies to find Chinese companies that were lying in some way to exaggerate their business success. So in the past it was not so urgent to require audit by US accounting firms accredited by PCAOB. After XI Jin Ping public access to reports was cut off.

 

Some years ago there were already 50 Chinese companies listed in the US that went bankrupt with little warning, which is a big number considering that today there are only 217 Chinese companies listed in the US. The point is: to make stocks of Chinese companies that do not subject their financial information to the same audit standard as US companies unavailable to ordinary US investors.

 

It's fine that Chinese companies list their shares in Hong Kong, where US institutional investors can buy them, at their own risk! Of course, these days can these institutional investors prevail in HK courts if they are scammed? Good luck.

 

As we can see with the fate of Ali Baba and Ant Group, the business can be damaged overnight by the whim if Xi Jin Ping.

NYSE just rescinded the plan to delist the 3 state-owned Chinese telecoms companies as ordered by Trump in his executive order. Perhaps in the last 15 days, there are people standing up against Trump's authoritarian bullying. His power is slipping away and soon the days of tyranny will be over. 

There has been flip flop in this matter in USA. 

 

In short,  Trump Administration ordered the BAN. 

NYSE refused to follow the order. 

Trump Administration pressured and insisted the BAN ( By personal phone call ) 

 

What is going to happen in next day or two ? 

What is going to happen after Feb 20, 2021 ???

 

 

 

14 hours ago, sscc said:

There has been flip flop in this matter in USA. 

 

In short,  Trump Administration ordered the BAN. 

NYSE refused to follow the order. 

Trump Administration pressured and insisted the BAN ( By personal phone call ) 

 

What is going to happen in next day or two ? 

What is going to happen after Feb 20, 2021 ???

 

 

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/nyse-takes-heat-after-flip-flop-on-chinese-companies-11609890719

So upon reflection NYSE realized that the ban of these companies is not certain. That would only take effect 60 days after an eventual announcement from the Treasury Dept. Hence they reversed their delisting plan. These stocks have not performed well, according to an earlier WSJ article, so it was sensible not to force small investors to sell, possibly at a loss.

On 1/5/2021 at 2:28 PM, Eric Loh said:

NYSE just rescinded the plan to delist the 3 state-owned Chinese telecoms companies as ordered by Trump in his executive order. Perhaps in the last 15 days, there are people standing up against Trump's authoritarian bullying. His power is slipping away and soon the days of tyranny will be over. 

In the latest turn in this story, the NYSE has announced that it will delist these stocks on Monday, January 11th at 4 AM. This follows receiving further clarification from the Treasury Dept.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/nyse-reverses-course-again-will-delist-three-chinese-telecom-stocks-11609945817

It would be nice if the days of tyranny could be over all over the world.