China Telecom will be removed from the New York Stock Exchange list.
Photograph:
Qilai Shen / Bloomberg News
The New York Stock Exchange will proceed with the removal from the list of three Chinese telecommunications companies targeted by an executive order from President Trump, reversing the course once again after the NYSE said earlier this week that it would not withdraw them.
The NYSE said on Wednesday that trading in China Mobile shares listed in the U.S. Ltd.
CHL -5.79%
, China Telecom Corp.
TEA -4.13%
and China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd.
CHU -4.23%
it would be suspended at 4am ET on Monday. Trump’s order aims to prohibit securities trading from companies that, according to the government, have ties to the Chinese military.
The NYSE said its last action came after it received “new specific guidelines” from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Tuesday, which listed the American depositary receipts from the three companies as being covered by Trump’s order. The NYSE statement also noted that companies could appeal the delisting decision to the exchange.
Wednesday’s reversal should raise more questions about the stock’s handling of the three Chinese stocks. Last week, the NYSE announced that it would withdraw the three companies to comply with Trump’s order, only to reverse the course on Monday and say it would not withdraw them. A person familiar with the matter said the NYSE backed down due to the ambiguity as to whether the three companies were covered by the order. The Treasury Department’s new guidance appears to have solved this problem.
The NYSE setback has drawn criticism from the Trump administration and hard-line advocates against Beijing. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called NYSE President Stacey Cunningham to oppose the NYSE turnaround.
Write to Alexander Osipovich at [email protected]
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