HKEx Targets Listings From International Companies

   By Gregor Stuart Hunter 
 

Hong Kong's stock exchange will seek to give international companies such as Apple Inc and The Walt Disney Company the ability to sell stock to Chinese buyers using the Stock Connect trading link, the exchange's chief executive says.

As part of its strategic plan for the next three years, the exchange will also seek to offer index futures and options for domestic Chinese shares, alongside an expansion of its commodity business to include more physical trading, said Charles Li, chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing.

The bourse operator seeks to expand the Stock Connect trading link, which launched in 2014 and allows global investors to buy Shanghai-listed shares and Chinese investors to invest in Hong Kong-listed securities, to allow China's vast pool of savings to be invested into primary listings.

"If realised, over time it'll fundamentally change the way we are seen by issuers and investors," he said. He cited companies like Apple and Disney as potential candidates that could potentially list if the requisite regulatory changes were made.

Write to Gregor Stuart Hunter at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 21, 2016 01:05 ET (06:05 GMT)

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