The main headlines of Fox Business Flash are here. Check out what is clicking on FoxBusiness.com.
NEW YORK / WASHINGTON – The New York Stock Exchange is starting the delisting process for three Chinese telecommunications companies after President Donald Trump last month blocked U.S. investments in Chinese companies that Washington says are owned or controlled by the military.
The NYSE stock, which will limit US investor access, follows global index providers MSCI Inc, S&P Dow Jones Indices and FTSE Russell and Nasdaq by eliminating several Chinese companies from their indexes.
It is “a modest step, but at least an awakening to national security and human rights-related risks,” said Roger Robinson, a former White House official who supports restricting Chinese access to American investors.
The NYSE said the issuers, China Telecom Corporation Limited, China Mobile Limited 0941.HK and China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited, were no longer suitable for listing, as the order prohibits any securities transactions “intended to provide exposure to investment in these securities, by any Chinese Communist military company, by anyone in the United States. “
EU, CHINA STAMP INVESTMENT AGREEMENT WHICH MAY GO TO US
This Monday, September 21, 2020, archival photo, a giant American flag is hanging on the New York Stock Exchange. (AP Photo / Mary Altaffer, Archive)
Trump’s executive order in November affects some of China’s biggest companies here.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION STRENGTHENS THE ORDER BELLOWING US INVESTMENT IN CHINESE COMPANIES
The order sought to enforce a 1999 law that required the Department of Defense to compile a list of Chinese military companies. The Pentagon, which fulfilled the mandate just this year, has so far appointed 35 companies, including oil company CNOOC Ltd and China’s largest chip maker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.
China condemned the ban and fund managers said it could benefit non-American investors who could buy shares.
The NYSE said it would suspend stock trading on January 7 or 11. Issuers have the right to review the decision. Each of the NYSE-nominated telecommunications companies also has a listing in Hong Kong.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT FOX BUSINESS
China Telecom is also under fire from the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which said in early December that it had begun the process of revoking the company’s authorization to operate in the United States.
The companies were not found to comment on a holiday in China.
The ties between Washington and Beijing have become increasingly antagonistic over the past year, as the world’s top two economies discussed how Beijing would deal with the coronavirus outbreak, the imposition of a national security law on Hong Kong and rising tensions in the South China Sea.
DISCOVER FOX BUSINESS ON THE MOVE BY CLICKING HERE
Separately, President Donald Trump signed a law last month that would expel Chinese companies from U.S. stock exchanges, unless they adhere to American audit standards. Market participants said it would intensify the rush by Chinese companies listed in the U.S. to seek new listings in Hong Kong.