The NYSE Has Decided Not To Delist Three Chinese Telecom Firms After A Second Thought

Image source : CNBC

Last week when the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE disclosed they would exempt three high profiled Chinese telecom companies from its platform – instigated by the outgoing U.S. presidential administration.

Due to the avoidance of national security vulnerability, the U.S. government suddenly disclosed the withdrawal of their initial decision not to be biased with its blacklist.

The tech companies that made the ban list are reported to have ties with the Chinese military.  The three companies include China Unicom Ltd, China Mobile Ltd, and China Telecom Corp Ltd.

Prior to the recent update about the companies that were supposed to be excluded from the blacklist, the bourse intended to delist the three companies before the 11th of January. After consulting proper regulatory authorities, the NYSE decided not to go ahead after some considerations.

Meanwhile, aside from the facts, the Asian tech companies pose a threat to the entire USA security. Trump’s administration is yet to give reasons for issuing the ban of thirty-five investment Asian tech companies that primarily focused on the Chinese. At the same time, Trump has limited days to remain in office to finalise his blacklist policy.

The Hong Kong Managing Director of GFM Asset Management, Tariq Dennison, has existing shares with China Mobile in Hong Kong and New York. He disclosed that he has already disentangled his New York shares with the Chinese company, and he is anticipating to invest with a U.S. client with the lowest investment risk of being entitled to be banished.

Tariq said “It shows how little light there is in that set of regulatory guidance so far, especially around the time the U.S. is changing administrations.”

However, analyst considered that the agency in charge of issuing sanctions to defaulters – the Office of Foreign Assets Control influenced the NYSE’s decision for not excluding the major Chinese tech company. 

The NYSE believes that the office that controls foreign assets would block all the defaulter other than excluding high profiled companies with related investments with other U.S. companies.

In November 2020, Trump administration issued the order that instructed the Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc (MSCI Inc) and the FTSE Russell to remove all the Chinese defaulters from their bench-mark. They complied with the president’s order, but none of them ruled out either China Unicom Ltd, China Mobile Ltd, or China Telecom Corp Ltd because they possess the most, amongst their shareholders’ funds.

The trio Chinese companies that almost got excluded from ban notified the public that they are aware of the NYSE latest decisions. They would be in full compliance with the NYSE’s policy, requiring them to publish information based on transparency.

However, the Chinese government is certainly not pleased with the Americans for over-using their absolute power. In context with the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s official statement, they noted that the American government is lamenting about national security as an excuse to trample out minorities, and the blacklisted Chinese companies are a perfect example of power abuse. The ministry also noted that investors should be thorough with accessing investment risks.

As a certified egomaniac, the U.S. feel more than confident about their status quo as they are regarded as the international financial centre.

The Chinese are also anticipating the present Trump administration to end in a blink. The Chinese are quite affirmative that the new president-elect Joe Biden “…is inheriting a position of tension,”. They hope he will be more open to negotiations and discussion on the U.S.- China relationship.