HKEX vets 300 listing applications after city becomes the world’s largest IPO market Bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), which topped this year’s global rankings as the largest initial public offering (IPO) market, said the city continued to see strong momentum, as it vets hundreds of new listing applications. Bonnie Chan Yiting, CEO of HKEX, on Wednesday said at an event in Shanghai that Hong Kong has more than 300 companies in the listing pipeline, which would ensure another strong quarter for fundraising in the city. “International investors have been actively involved in new listings in Hong Kong this year,” Chan said at a HKEX-organised summit in mainland China’s financial capital. “These included long-term investors from Europe, the US, the Middle East and emerging markets.” “These investors are particularly interested in new tech company listings, which reflects their confidence in the mainland’s technology development, prompting a shift in asset allocation.” Total funds raised from new share sales in Hong Kong jumped 220 per cent year on year in the first nine months of 2025, as 66 companies raised US$23.27 billion on the main board of the stock exchange, according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). That put the city’s bourse well ahead of the New York Stock Exchange, which ranked second with US$16.53 billion and the Nasdaq in third with US$15.32 billion, LSEG data showed. This marked the first time Hong Kong has ranked first in the first three quarters of the year since 2018, according to the LSEG. The benchmark Hang Seng Index also gained 35 per cent this year, making it one of the world’s best-performing major indices. That rally was triggered by international investors rushing to buy Chinese tech stocks after Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek shocked the world with the release of low-cost but highly efficient AI models in December and January. Chan said the funds raised by existing Hong Kong-listed companies in share placements and other offerings reached HK$456.1 billion (US$58.47 billion) in the first nine months of this year, which was double the amount raised in IPOs during the same period. “This showed that the Hong Kong market is an efficient fundraising venue for new and post listings,” she said. In a separate development, HKEX has challenged the plans of at least five companies that were seeking to pivot to digital-asset treasury (DAT) strategies as their core business in recent months, citing rules that prohibit large liquid holdings, according to a Bloomberg report on Wednesday that cited people familiar with the plans. DATs have also met similar opposition in India and Australia, the report said. “HKEX is committed to the continued vibrancy and competitiveness of Hong Kong’s markets, and has a robust regulatory framework for both listed issuers and listing applicants to uphold investor protection standards and maintain market integrity,” a spokesman said on Wednesday in reply to the Post’s query. “Our comprehensive framework ensures that the businesses and operations of all applicants seeking to list, as well as those already listed, are viable and sustainable and of substance – taking into consideration the different industries and business operations the listed issuers and listing applicants may have.” https://www.scmp.com/business/markets/article/3329976/hkex-vets-300-listing-applications-after-city-becomes-worlds-largest-ipo-market (ICE HONG KONG)

Fonte notizia: South China Morning Post