Hkex is planning to attract secondary listings from listed companies in Southeast Asia and the Middle East to boost its global influence, Reuters reported, citing Yiting Chan, chief executive of hkex group, “We are now more focused on companies that are already listed in other markets but could grow beyond their home market.”
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange is set to open an office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to build“Closer ties” with the Saudi bourse, Reuters said.
Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong have stepped up efforts to promote trading activities, the Saudi economic daily reported recently. Riyadh has strengthened ties with Hong Kong in recent years, which is trying to attract gulf investors. As part of its“Vision 2030”, Saudi Arabia is also working to attract Chinese investors and increase foreign ownership and liquidity in publicly traded shares.
The Riyadh office is scheduled to open this year, Chen said, according to a recent Hong Kong media report, adding that the two places are now cooperating extensively in business, finance and tourism.
During a recent trip to the Middle East, Ms. Chen said at an event that she sensed Saudi Arabia’s keen interest in china-related opportunities. She points to Saudi Arabia’s exchange traded funds, which listed in Hong Kong 18 months ago and now have about HK $10bn under management. Since then, Saudi Arabia has launched two etfs focused on Hong Kong.
“Hkex is trying to attract companies from the rest of the world to Hong Kong for initial public initial public offering offerings to realise its ambition to become a global funding platform,” Reuters said, hkex’s move comes as investor appetite for US dollar assets wanes and capital flows to non-us markets accelerate. The report also cited a surge in listings and subsequent share offerings by Chinese companies as boosting hkex’s prospects.
In south-east Asia, Ms Chan notes that three Singaporean companies have listed in Hong Kong in the past 12 months and that one Thai company is expected to list soon. According to a report in Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is opening the door to secondary listings by leading companies from Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand’s national oil company (PTT) and retail company CP ALL, the move is aimed at helping them raise money from a broader group of global investors. The Thai stock exchange has been added to hkex’s list of recognised stock exchanges, making it the 20th exchange to be so recognised. Hkex had previously added the Indonesian stock exchange and the Singapore Exchange to the list.
International investors are currently enthusiastic about Hong Kong’s capital markets. Reuters quoted data from the London Stock Exchange as saying that the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has become the world’s top destination for new listings this year, with 31 companies raising US $10 billion through ipos, a further $26bn was raised through secondary offerings. By Friday, the number of companies awaiting 2024 on the Hong Kong stock exchange had risen from about 80 at the end of December to more than 160, with the Hang Seng index up nearly 19 per cent this year.
Hong Kong is expected to become the world’s largest cross-border asset management centre in two to three years, according to an online Lianhe Zaobao by Paul Chan, Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. According to the South China Morning Post, Paul Chan said earlier this year that hkex would add more foreign stock exchanges to its approved list, a move aimed at promoting the city as a centre for financing international companies.