the official CFIUS review process from starting.
One of the people said CFIUS had refused
to take the application because HNA kept
changing the details of its ownership.
HNA did not immediately respond to a request
for comment.
ASIC
ICOs under greater scrutiny
Australia’s corporate watchdog said last week it
was cracking down on “misleading or deceptive
conduct” in the marketing and selling of digital
tokens via initial coin offerings.
The Australian Securities & Investments
Commission said some companies have already
halted their offerings or indicated a change in
their ICO structure as a result of its inquiries.
The ICO market is relatively small in Australia
but ASIC is wary poor conduct will have a
negative impact on investor confidence over
time.
“If you are acting with someone else’s money,
or selling something to someone, you have
obligations,” ASIC commissioner John Price said
in a statement.
“Regardless of the structure of the ICO, there is
one law that will always apply: you cannot make
misleading or deceptive statements about the
product,” he added.
“This is going to be a key focus for us as this
sector develops.”
Two weeks ago, Price told a gathering in Sydney
that ASIC will look to update its guidance
on companies considering ICOs. It will also
highlight that Australian corporate and
consumer law might apply no matter where the
ICO is created and offered.China Securities Regulatory Commission
Draft CDR rules issuedChinese technology giants including Alibaba
Group and Xiaomi are a step closer to list in the
A-share market as China’s securities regulator
said last Friday it had published draft rules on
the issuance of Chinese Depositary Receipts.
According to local media, the China Securities
Regulatory Commission has started a public
consultation on the draft rules, which will run for
a month.
The final rules are expected to take effect as
early as the end of June if no major changes are
made, according to market participants.
The CSRC said in March it would carry out a
pilot scheme for CDRs, similar to American
depositary receipts. The new instrument will
offer a way for overseas-domiciled Chinese
companies to make their shares available on the
domestic market.XIAOMI, which filed for a Hong Kong IPO earlier
this week, is considering a domestic listing
through CDRs, sources told IFR earlier.
The smartphone maker plans to bring its
US$10bn Hong Kong float to the market in June.
A CDR sale could follow immediately if final
rules are ready as expected in late June.
E-commerce giant ALIBABA GROUP is also mulling
an A-share listing through an issue of CDRs as
early as the middle of this year, IFR reported
earlier. CICC and Citic Securities are working on
the float, which could raise more than Rmb10bn
(US$1.57bn).
Alibaba rival JD.COM also plans to issue CDRs
with the help of China Securities, Huajing
Securities and Huatai United Securities.
The CSRC said on March 30 it would allow
qualified overseas-listed and domiciled
companies with a market capitalisation of no
less than Rmb200bn to issue shares or CDRs in
the A-share market as part of a pilot scheme.
The CSRC will also allow qualified unlisted
companies, with valuations of no less than
Rmb20bn and revenues of no less than
Rmb3bn, to go public under the pilot scheme.
The CSRC also said at Friday’s weekly briefing
that it plans to make CDRs available under
the Shanghai-London Stock Connect trading
link, expected to be launched later this year,
according to Reuters.Please send job moves to
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