US Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler cast doubt on the possibility of a deal being reached with China on access to Chinese companies' audit reports.
"I'm not particularly confident - it's really up to our counterparties," Gensler said Wednesday during a media conference call, adding that "good-faith" negotiations continue "but there is a risk here."
US and Chinese officials have been negotiating for more than two years to ensure staff from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board can access the audit papers of Chinese companies traded in the US. The two sides held calls this month to further negotiations aimed at keeping about 200 Chinese stocks including JD.com, Alibaba and Pinduoduo from losing their listings on New York exchanges ahead of a 2024 deadline, and redactions in auditors' documents are a key barrier.
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong shares of Tianqi Lithium (9696) dropped by 2.5 percent despite the firm revealing its interim net profit could jump as much as 134 times year-on-year, after its closed flat on its trading debut.
And three other IPOs had mixed results in the gray market. MicroPort NeuroTech (2172) fell 1.2 percent to HK$24.35, compare to the listing price HK$24.64, BoardWare Intelligence Technology (1204) rose 1.9 percent to HK$1.1, compared to the listing price HK$1.08 and Deewin Tianxia (2418) fell 4.4 percent to HK$1.72, compare to its listing price HK$1.8.
