HK stocks chief insists linkup with Shanghai to move ahead
Print Edition
A delayed watershed scheme to allow cross-trading between Hong Kong and Shanghai’s stock markets will go ahead, the president of the Hong Kong bourse has said.
The Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect platform will enable international investors to trade selected stocks in Shanghai’s exchange and allow Chinese mainland investors to buy stocks in Hong Kong.
Its launch had been widely expected this week but senior officials announced over the weekend that it had been delayed.
In an interview in Paris on Tuesday, Chow Chung-kong, president of the Hong Kong stock exchange, insisted the project “will be set up, but you’ll just have to wait a little longer.”
“We do not know when it will be introduced, as we have no control over the proceedings,” he said on the sidelines of a conference in Paris to boost economic cooperation with Hong Kong.
“This is a major decision for the Chinese government and must take into account a range of factors” to “select the best time,” he added.
The scheme’s prospects were boosted yesterday after it received approval from Hong Kong’s securities regulator.
In April, Premier Li Keqiang announced plans for the project, and mainland and Hong Kong authorities issued a statement that month saying it would take “approximately six months” to launch.
But in a statement issued late on Sunday, the Hong Kong stock exchange said no start date had been set for the scheme, and it had yet to receive regulatory approval.
Chow said ongoing uncertainty over how trading via the scheme will be taxed was partially behind the delay.
“The question is whether shares bought and sold in Shanghai will be subject to taxes on capital gains,” he said.
“Of course, we hope this will not be the case, but it is possible. Either way it is especially important that this be clarified,” he added.
Yesterday, Hong Kong’s securities regulator said it had given its approval for the scheme to go ahead and was now waiting for a response from mainland regulators.
“Our job is done, and we hope that trading will begin in the not too distant future,” said Ashley Alder, chief executive of Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
If it goes ahead, the scheme is expected to see volumes on both exchanges rise significantly, particularly Shanghai.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
