New York Stock Exchange Reverses Plan to Delist Chinese Firms

 

NYSE announced last week it would delist the companies to comply with an executive order

Dave DeCamp 

Posted onJanuary 4, 2021CategoriesNewsTagsChina, Trump

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) announced on Monday that it no longer plans to delist three of China’s largest telecommunication companies.

Last week, the NYSE said it was delisting China Mobile Ltd., China Telecom Corp Ltd., China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd. to comply with an executive order signed by President Trump. The order bans investments in Chinese firms the US claims have ties to China’s military and comes into effect on January 11th.

In a brief statement published on its website, the NYSE said it made the decision “in light of further consultation with relevant regulatory authorities of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).” The OFAC is the enforcement arm of the Treasury Department.

While the three companies are also listed in Hong Kong and generate their revenue in China, delisting the firms would have cut off a significant source of capital and further escalated US-China tensions. The firms have been listed on the NYSE for years. China Mobile, for example, has been on the NYSE since 1997.

President Trump’s order is part of his broader anti-China policies his administration has been ramping up in its final days. The reversal of the delisting calls into question the power a president has to prohibit Americans from investing in foreign companies.