- In an astonishing about-face, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has decided to buck the executive order of U.S. President Donald Trump requiring delisting of China telecos.
- Last week the NYSE said it was delisting China Telecom, China Mobile, and China Unicom Hong Kong on either Thursday of this week, or Monday of next week.
- Fortunately, all three companies clawed back several percentage points in trading in losses from a day earlier.
NEW YORK, New York – In an astonishing about-face, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has decided to buck the executive order of U.S. President Donald Trump requiring Chinese telecom companies, perceived to have ties with the Chinese military, to be delisted from American exchanges.
Last Thursday, New Year’s Eve, the NYSE said, in pursuance of the order, it was delisting China Telecom, China Mobile, and China Unicom Hong Kong on either Thursday of this week, or Monday of next week.
Instead on Monday night the NYSE announced that after further consultation with regulators the delistings would not proceed. As all three companies lost several percentage points in trading on Monday on the Hong Kong Hang Seng exchange, involving several hundred billion dollars, it could well be, but was not conceded that the NYSE could have been leaving itself open to extraordinary legal repercussions.
Later that day in New York the decision was made to reverse the proposed delistings.
“In light of further consultation with relevant regulatory authorities in connection with the Office of Foreign Assets Control FAQ 857, available here, the New York Stock Exchange LLC (“NYSE”) announced today that NYSE Regulation no longer intends to move forward with the delisting action in relation to the three issuers enumerated below (the “Issuers”) which was announced on December 31, 2020,” the NYSE said in a statement released late Monday.
“At this time, the Issuers will continue to be listed and traded on the NYSE. NYSE Regulation will continue to evaluate the applicability of Executive Order 13959 to these Issuers and their continued listing status,” the statement added.
Fortunately, all three companies clawed back several percentage points in trading in Hong Kong on Tuesday in the wake of the announcement. That however will be of little solace to those who sold on Monday, but of considerable comfort to those who bought.
