Update | Bank of China stocks up as trade digests reports of Italian money smuggling cases
Bank of China stocks shrugged off news of possible prosecutions by Italian authorities, finishing the Monday morning session 1.36 per cent up to HK$5.21 on the Hong Kong exchange.
Louis Tse, director of VC Brokerage, said it was too early for markets to know how to react to the news. “So far we have no information about what this may cost BOC,” he said. “Legal proceedings haven’t been initiated yet and the head office hasn’t issued any response.” Prosecutors say more than €4.5 billion (HK$264 billion) was smuggled to China from Italy between 2006 and 2010, including €2.2 billion via BOC’s Milan branch. They have asked for the branch and 297 individuals, mostly Chinese living in Italy, to be tried for smuggling money and other crimes.
CMMB Vision gained 5.45 per cent to 29 HK cents by midsession after its announcement that it will acquire current and future satellite platforms from US firm New York Broadband II. The future platform is planned to cover China, India and the Asian “One Belt, One Road” countries by late 2017.
China Mobile also surged with turnover in excess of HK$750 million gaining 1.56 per cent to HK$101.10. Earlier, the telco giant announced a net gain of 17.2 million 4G network users in May, up from 10 million the preceding month, for the net loss of 6.5 million 3G users.
Meanwhile, Imperial Pacific spiked 26.39 per cent to 45.5 HK cents on the back of an announcement that it is actively seeking new investment opportunities around the world for resort and gaming facilities. These would supplement the group’s integrated resorts and casino developed under exclusive licence in the Northern Mariana Islands about 1,600 miles southeast of Tokyo in the Pacific Ocean.
South Sea Petroleum was up 6.25 per cent to 51 HK cents on weekend reports of a new joint venture e-commerce platform for its products. South Sea’s core business is crude oil and minerals but it is also engaged in the manufacturing and assembly of industrial electronic products and consumer goods.
