Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing aims to be the go-to giant for investment in Asia time zone in three-year plan
- City’s exchange operator will bolster role as gateway for investment in and out of mainland China
- Will woo Asia-Pacific companies to list in city as it competes with rival stock exchanges in US and mainland China
The operator of the Hong Kong stock exchange, Asia’s third largest market, on Thursday unveiled a three-year plan to become the world’s go-to market during Asian trading hours by wooing top Asia-Pacific companies to list in the city while bolstering its gateway role for mainland China investment.
Charles Li Xiaojia, chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, said Hong Kong will become a hub for Asia-Pacific and other companies in the world to list.
He also wants to shorten the length of time it takes for initial public offerings. Currently, trading starts five days after the pricing and settlement of the IPO. New York and London have a quicker process.
“Hong Kong has a lot of listing companies and investment products but they are now mainly Hong Kong and mainland Chinese companies,” Li wrote on his blog.
“While Asia-Pacific economies are developing rapidly, the global investors have great interest in investing in the Asia-Pacific region. But now there are not enough products to meet these demands. HKEX needs to capture these opportunities by attracting more Asia-Pacific companies and ETFs to list here,” he added, referring to exchange traded funds, which are funds that trade like stocks.
