Hong Kong issued 53% more permits for bankers specializing in initial public offerings last month, signaling a tentative recovery even as the regulator maintains a high bar for industry entry. The Securities and Futures Commission granted 43 new licenses to advise on corporate finance in March, up from a low in February, according to official data. Despite the rebound, the figures remain well belo...
Hong Kong issued 53% more permits for bankers specializing in initial public offerings last month, signaling a tentative recovery even as the regulator maintains a high bar for industry entry. The Securities and Futures Commission granted 43 new licenses to advise on corporate finance in March, up from a low in February, according to official data. Despite the rebound, the figures remain well below the historical average of more than 100 a month, a pace seen before the watchdog issued warnings to the industry over substandard IPO application work. “It appears the SFC is attempting to accelerate the process while maintaining a strictly high quality threshold,” said Clara Chiu, founder of regulatory advisory firm QReg and former SFC licensing director. The licensing activity serves as a barometer for the health of Hong Kong’s capital markets. While the month-on-month jump is significant, the industry is still recalibrating after a period of intense scrutiny. The market regulator started scolding banks late last year over inadequate resources leading to sloppy work. The tightening came as Hong Kong was celebrating a four-year high in IPO fundraising and bracing for its busiest-ever start to a year. Eric Yip , SFC’s executive director of intermediaries, said the regulator has “been encouraged by the proactive responses in the way sponsors are approaching resource allocation.” “Our regulatory approach is pragmatic and results oriented, and we will continue to observe whether the sponsor firms’ efforts will translate into observable improvements in the quality of IPO work in the coming months,” Yip said in a statement. Current SFC guidance now restricts signing principals, the bankers held ultimately responsible for listing deals, to a maximum of five active mandates at any one time. This cap creates a significant bottleneck for the more than 400 companies waiting to go public. Adding to the industry’s unease, authorities recently conducted high-profile raids on a hedge f...
Nio Inc. CEO William Li. Photo: VCG Nio Inc. Chairman and CEO William Li has called for the standardization of battery cells and automotive chips to help automakers survive a profitability crisis driven by increasingly short lifecycles for new electric vehicles. The appeal underscores the severe financial strain on the fiercely competitive new-energy vehicle sector, where rapid technological itera...
Nio Inc. CEO William Li. Photo: VCG Nio Inc. Chairman and CEO William Li has called for the standardization of battery cells and automotive chips to help automakers survive a profitability crisis driven by increasingly short lifecycles for new electric vehicles. The appeal underscores the severe financial strain on the fiercely competitive new-energy vehicle sector, where rapid technological iteration has shrunk a new model’s prime sales window to less than a year, creating supply-demand mismatches that bleed cash from manufacturers and suppliers.
The world’s largest water fight erupted across Bangkok on Monday as the three-day annual Songkran festival drew a surge in tourists to a country whose bruised economy badly needed a reason to celebrate. Thailand has refused to let a fuel crisis triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran dampen its traditional New Year’s celebrations, even as prices spike for everything from petrol to ice during the h...
The world’s largest water fight erupted across Bangkok on Monday as the three-day annual Songkran festival drew a surge in tourists to a country whose bruised economy badly needed a reason to celebrate. Thailand has refused to let a fuel crisis triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran dampen its traditional New Year’s celebrations, even as prices spike for everything from petrol to ice during the hottest month of the year. The water festival – also known as Thingyan in neighbouring Myanmar and...
matejmo/iStock via Getty Images Oil prices are significantly underpriced and should be much higher than current levels if the U.S. proceeds with a planned naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, according to a veteran oil market executive. Brent crude ( CO1:COM ) climbed above $103 a barrel on Monday, before settling at $101.6, after weekend talks between Washington and Tehran failed to produce a ...
matejmo/iStock via Getty Images Oil prices are significantly underpriced and should be much higher than current levels if the U.S. proceeds with a planned naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, according to a veteran oil market executive. Brent crude ( CO1:COM ) climbed above $103 a barrel on Monday, before settling at $101.6, after weekend talks between Washington and Tehran failed to produce a deal, intensifying an already fragile global energy backdrop. U.S. West Texas Intermediate ( CL1:COM ) climbed over 7% to roughly $104. "The number we saw this morning — $103; 8% increase — is not reflective at all of what could happen if the US really decides to go with this interdiction,” Onyx Capital Group managing director Jorge Montepeque said on Bloomberg Television , “It really makes no sense. It should be $140, $150.” U.S. forces are set to begin enforcing the blockade at 10 a.m. New York time Monday, targeting all vessels entering or leaving Iranian ports. Montepeque warned the move could turn a regional conflict into a global one, potentially disrupting up to 12M bbl/day of supply and triggering a sharp repricing in oil markets. “This is, in one word: demented,” Montepeque said in the interview. “It makes no sense what the US is doing because they are so focused on Iran that they are losing sight of what they are causing to the world. And the pain is in Asia, the pain is in the South Pacific, the pain is in anybody that depends on oil.” Oil prices may be around $100 a barrel for rest of the year if Trump dials back some of his actions, Montepeque added. ETFs: ( USO ), ( BNO ), ( UCO ), ( SCO ), ( USL ), ( DBO ), ( DRIP ), ( GUSH ), ( USOI ), ( UNG ), ( BOIL ), ( KOLD ), ( UNL ), ( FCG ), ( XLE ) More on Brent Futures, Crude Oil Futures, etc. 6 Themes For Earning Season Commodities: Oil Supported By Ongoing Supply Risks Reinventing The Petrodollar: How U.S. Energy Dominance Is Shifting The Global Balance Of Power Odds of Strait of Hormuz opening plunge on predictio...