Capital Calls-Chinese banking watchdog eyes New York IPOs
13/04/2021 08:00
(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions
expressed are their own.)
HONG KONG, April 13 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Concise
insights on global finance in the Covid-19 era.
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NEW REMIT. Online insurance company Waterdrop’s plans to list in
New York are on hold, four sources told Reuters, as regulators
at home worry its business model is too risky. While Chinese
financial watchdogs constantly intervene in domestic initial
public offerings, they have remained largely hands off when it
came to U.S. bourses. If the China Banking and Insurance
Regulatory Commission starts systematically vetting mainland
companies trying to tap American markets, it will mark a major
expansion of oversight.
Tencent-backed 0700.HK Waterdrop distributes insurance
policies and facilitates crowd-funding for medical treatment -
a scandal-plagued business. On the other hand, Beijing did
nothing to stop peer-to-peer lenders from floating in New York
right before it effectively banned the practice: shares in P2P
lender Yirendai YRD.N , for example, are down 92% from their
IPO price. If CBIRC officials are preparing to protect U.S.
investors from companies they are planning to swat, the
Securities and Exchange Commission may thank them. Investment
bankers and equity backers, not so much. (By Pete Sweeney)
On Twitter http://twitter.com/breakingviews
Earlier in Capital Calls:
U.S. CEO pay urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2M52CC
U.S. EV deal is battery charged win urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2M51DR
Tod’s needs Ferragni sizzle, plus urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2M53J2
Darktrace IPO timing looks questionable urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2M52LD
Swedish payment IPO tests investor appetite urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2M52FM
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| Editing by Robyn Mak and Katrina Hamlin)