Chinese Firms Reconsiders Nasdaq Flotation

Bestbond, a Chinese apartment rental firm, has been thinking on a Nasdaq flotation in a year or two. But as the U.S.-China trade war gets worse, the Hong Kong stock exchange rose as a possible candidate too.

However, the Nanjing, Eastern China-based Bestbond still favors Nasdaq because of its higher profile.

CFO Wnag Jia even stated about having second thoughts, saying that Hong Kong, despite being beset with political unrest, became a lot more pleasing. And this happened after Friday news lifted that Trump administration was looking at delisting Chinese firms from U.S. bourses. On the other hand, a U.S. Treasury official cleared out that as of now they are not thinking of blocking Chinese companies from U.S. listings.

Then, based on the regulatory findings, corporate executives, and bankers, Nasdaq Inc. is cracking down on IPOs of small Chinese firms. And they do this by toughening up restrictions and slowing down on approvals.

One Nasdaq spokeswoman stated the bourse offers non-discriminatory and fair access to all eligible firms. But she declines to give feedback regarding the effect of the listing rule changes for small Chinese companies.

More Chinese Firms

Meanwhile, some firms received more considerable damage to Trump’s threats. Chinese boutique private equity fund manager Cornerstone hopes for an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange in October. However, it now perceives an imminent U.S. listing as challenging.

In addition to that, Southern China-based asset manager Guangzhou pays close attention to investing in Chinese companies, which have listed or are seeking to list in the United States. And this will make its business model especially vulnerable to slumps in those valuations.

Aside from that, the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index (HXC), tracking Nasdaq-listed Chinese firms, dropped over 4% on Friday.

Then, Marcum Bernstein & Pinchuk is a company that advises Chinese firms on their capital markets strategies. And it stated that creating equity capital raising a new flashpoint in the tension between China and the U.S. benefits no one.