30th Dec 2019 08:02
(Alliance News) - Chinese lawmakers agreed Saturday to slash red tape for initial public offerings, approving an amendment to the country's securities law that also aims to better protect investors and prevent insider trading.
Mainland authorities have recently stepped up moves to attract listings of big tech firms, including launching a new technology board in Shanghai in July, as the country's economy has stuttered to its slowest rate of growth since the early 1990's.
"This amendment is a big breakthrough as it cuts red tape and the cost for companies when going public," said Dong Dengxin, director of the Finance and Securities Institute at Wuhan University of Science and Technology.
"It is the most significant revision of the Securities Law in history."
The new registration-based IPO system in the newly amended law – which comes into effect on March 1, 2020 – requires strict information disclosures from companies seeking to list.
The listings however do not need approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, according to a draft law published Saturday.
It has also removed the need for companies to be profitable before listing.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open on Monday:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.2% at 7,632.73
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Hang Seng: up 0.3% at 28,299.44
Nikkei 225: closed down 0.8% at 23,656.62
DJIA: closed up 23.87 points, 0.1%, at 28,645.26
S&P 500: closed flat at 3,240.02
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GBP: up at USD1.3120 (USD1.3092)
EUR: up at USD1.1196 (USD1.1175)
Gold: soft at USD1,514.04 per ounce (USD1,514.27)
Oil (Brent): firm at USD68.26 a barrel (USD68.14)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Monday's Key Economic Events still to come
0930 GMT UK capital issuance
0830 EST US goods trade balance
0930 CST US Texas manufacturing outlook survey
1000 EST US pending home sales index
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The outgoing governor of the Bank of England has warned financial firms that their assets could become "worthless" if they do not wake up to the climate crisis. Mark Carney, who will step down from the post in March, said the financial sector was starting to curb investment in fossil fuels, but that it is "not moving fast enough". He made the comments in an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme – guest edited by environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg – which will be broadcast on Monday. Carney said companies "have to make the judgment and justify to the people whose money it ultimately is" in relation to divestment.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for his military and diplomats to prepare unspecified "offensive measures" to protect the country's security and sovereignty, the North's state media said. The call came before his end-of-year deadline for the Trump administration to make major concessions to salvage a fragile nuclear diplomacy. At a ruling Workers' Party meeting on Sunday, Kim also "comprehensively and anatomically analysed" problems arising in efforts to rebuild the North's moribund economy and presented tasks for "urgently correcting the grave situation of the major industrial sectors," the Korean Central News Agency said. The plenary meeting of the party's Central Committee, which began on Saturday, is being closely watched amid concerns Kim could suspend his deadlocked nuclear negotiations with the Untied States and take a more confrontational approach by lifting a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests.
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Donald Trump faced calls from his own party to show more restraint on Twitter amid a storm of outrage Sunday over the US president revealing the name of a man widely thought to be the whistleblower who triggered his impeachment. Criticism has been growing since Trump retweeted an attack that included the name of the reported CIA staffer at the heart of the Ukraine scandal – an act that could violate the whistleblower's guaranteed anonymity under the law. Trump is ending 2019 as the third president in US history to be impeached after pressuring Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, a rival in his 2020 re-election bid.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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BARCLAYS RAISES CARNIVAL PRICE TARGET TO 4040 (3800) PENCE - 'EQUAL WEIGHT'
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto said it is resuming operations at Richards Bay Minerals, following discussions, led by the premier of KwaZulu-Natal, Sihle Zikalala, addressing the issues in the community. Rio Tinto had halted operations at the start of January, saying it feared for the safety of employees due to "violence in the communities surrounding the operations" in South Africa. The company said one employee had been shot, and seriously injured, leading to the suspension of activity at the site, which produces minerals such as ilmenite, one of the main ores of titanium. On Monday, Rio said a phased restart is now in progress, with RBM expected to return to full operations in early January, leading to regular production in early 2020.
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Drugmakers AstraZeneca and Merck & Co reported that Lynparza has been approved in the US for the maintenance treatment of adult patients with deleterious or suspected pancreatic cancer. The approval follows the recommendation from the US FDA Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee for Lynparza, which was based on results from the pivotal phase III POLO trial. It showed an improvement in progression-free survival, where Lynparza nearly doubled the time patients with pancreatic cancer lived without disease progression or death.
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Up to 10,000 jobs at HSBC Holdings are at risk, as the lender's interim boss plans an overhaul which could also see parts of its US division axed, the Daily Mail reported on Sunday. Retail banking operations in France also could be closed, according to the newspaper. In the US, the firm is mulling the sale of branches in US cities such as Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco. Interim Chief Executive Noel Quinn is set to unveil plans for the shake-up in the company's annual results on February 18, as he looks to seal the job on a permanent basis, the Daily Mail said. In his third-quarter results statement back in October, Quinn set out the areas of the bank under scrutiny. "Parts of our business, especially Asia, held up well in a challenging environment in the third quarter," Quinn said. "However, in some parts, performance was not acceptable, principally business activities within continental Europe, the non-ring-fenced bank in the UK, and the US."
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Andy Smith is likely step down as chief executive of Smiths Group next year, after the spin-off of the engineering group's medical business is completed, the Sunday Times reported. Smith, who has been chief executive of Smiths since 2015, has been under fire since the company was forced to abandon a merger of the medical unit with American firm ICU Medical Inc, the Times reported. In September 2018, Smiths confirmed that talks with ICU for a deal fell through. According to the Times, the Smiths board was unhappy with the terms of the deal.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Entertainment One shares are to be suspended, the firm said, as it edges closer to the completion of its acquisition by US toy maker Hasbro. The trading suspension will be effective from Monday with cancellation of its shares to follow on Friday. Rhode Island-based Hasbro's takeover of Peppa Pig producer Entertainment One, which is a member of London's FTSE 250 index, was announced in August, valuing Entertainment One at GBP3.3 billion with a price per share of GBP5.60.
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COMPANIES - OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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BigDish, which operates a yield management platform for the restaurant industry, reported a widened pretax loss of GBP1.1 million for the six months to the end of September compared to GBP388,244 loss a year earlier, amid higher administrative expenses, which grew to GBP735,077 from GBP235,423. In addition, BigDish recorded a GBP396,277 impairment loss associated with Looloo and fees on fundraising. Revenue for the year remained insignificant, at GBP11,766 versus GBP2,448 a year ago. "We have sufficient funding runway in order to increase the pace of restaurant acquisition which is the key performance indicator for the year ahead," Chief Executive Tom Sumner said. "It is my expectation that 2020 will be a turnaround story for BigDish and our shareholders."
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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"Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" stayed on a strong glide path in North American theaters, taking in an estimated USD73.6 million for the three-day weekend, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday. The Walt Disney film, marketed as a grand finale of the nine-film "Skywalker Saga," has had mixed reviews and was down considerably from last weekend's lofty USD177.4 million opening. But it has compiled a strong domestic total of USD364.5 million. It again maintained a big lead over the No. 2 film, Sony's "Jumanji: The Next Level," an action sequel starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Kevin Hart, which had USD34.4 million in North American ticket sales for the Friday-through-Sunday period. In third for the second straight week was Disney's "Frozen II," at USD17 million.
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Monday's Shareholder Meetings
Focusrite (re increase of borrowing limits)
Secure Property Development & Investment
Harvest Minerals
Aseana Properties
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By Tom Waite; [email protected]
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