NYSE reverts to original plan to delist Chinese telecoms firm
The New York Stock Exchange has announced it will move forward with plans to delist three Chinese telecoms giants just days after u-turning.
The exchange will remove US-traded shares of China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom “to comply with US law,” it said on Wednesday.
The NYSE originally announced its delisting plans last week following an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump blocking American investment in firms deemed to be owned or controlled by the Chinese military.
MSCI, FTSE Russell, Nasdaq and S&P Global also released lists of Chinese companies that would be dropped from their indices.
It then backtracked on Monday and said it had scrapped plans to delist the three firms “in light of further consultation with relevant regulatory authorities”. The abrupt u-turn surprised analysts and investors who were unsure of the motivation behind the decision.
In a statement today the exchange said trading of the firms will be suspended on 11 January as it had been “advised that NSCC will clear trades executed through January 8, 2021.”
President Trump’s executive order further inflamed long-running tensions between the US and China after targeting other Chinese companies including TikTok, Huawei and Tencent last year.
Last month Trump signed the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act which could force Chinese firms to delist if they do not comply with US accounting regulations.