#1: (ZT) New York sees Hong Kong as threat to financial status (1196 reads) 作者: youhighness, 来自: 哲里木盟科尔沁左翼中旗木里图苏木爱搞不搞嘎查时间: 2006-11-02 周四, 06:01 — 作者：youhighness 在 海归商务 发贴, 来自【海归网】 http://www.haiguinet.com
New York sees Hong Kong as threat to financial status
BenjaminScent
Thursday, November 02, 2006
New York risks losing its status as the world's primary financial center to fast- developing centers like Hong Kong, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a newspaper article.
In a Wall Street Journal piece Wednesday written with US senator from New York Charles Schumer, Bloomberg said New York is losing ground to other centers like Hong Kong and London, which are becoming leaders in capital formation. More money will be raised through IPOs in Hong Kong next year than in either London or New York, he wrote.
"New York cannot ignore these warning signs," Bloomberg said. He has hired a consulting firm to create an action plan for the New York financial sector. The firm will issue a report later this month identifying which factors are keeping New York at a competitive disadvantage.
"The liquidity in Hong Kong is quite large. There is plenty of cash remaining in the market," said Sun Hung Kai Financial strategist Castor Pang Wai-sun.
Hong Kong-based analysts cited high regulatory costs and litigation threats as disadvantages to New York listings. After China Life and Bank of China (Hong Kong) listed in New York, only to be met by lawsuits from US investors demanding more information disclosure, most Chinese firms seeking overseas listings will prefer Hong Kong, they said. "Hong Kong is much more appropriate for China-related shares," said Pang, noting New York's much stricter listing requirements.
Four factors stated by Bloomberg as reasons for the threat to New York are globalization of the capital markets, overregulation, frivolous litigation, and incompatible accounting standards. To maintain New York's position as the global leader in financial services, they must seek a better balance between innovation and regulation, Bloomberg said. He cited the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 as one of the regulations that needs to be re-examined.
"There appears to be a worrisome trend of corporate leaders focusing inordinate time on compliance minutiae rather than innovative strategies for growth, for fear of facing personal financial penalties from overzealous regulators," Bloomberg wrote.
Chief Secretary Rafael Hui Si-yan spoke to the Hong Kong Trade Development Council annual dinner in London Wednesday, pointing to strong investor confidence and expanding business activity as signs of Hong Kong's strength. Since 1997, overseas companies with regional operations in Hong Kong have increased by over 50 percent. "They recognize Hong Kong's value as the best business platform, not only for the mainland but in the Asia- Pacific region as a whole," Hui said.
As at the end of September, 1,152 companies were listed on the Hong Kong bourse. Of them, 352 are mainland companies. These firms account for 44 percent of total market capitalization and supply about 57 percent of daily turnover.
By the end of the year, Hong Kong will rank No1 in the world for total capital raised by means of IPO in 2006.
Friday's debut of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China climaxed the world's largest IPO to date, having raised more than US$19 billion (HK$148.2 billion). Of US$14 billion raised for Hong Kong shares, about 90 percent came from global institutions.
"Unless we improve our corporate climate, we risk allowing New York to lose its pre-eminence in the global financial services sector," Bloomberg wrote. "This would be devastating for both our city and nation."
