On 17 April 2024, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) published a whitepaper from ISDA Future Leaders in Derivatives (IFLD), its professional development program for emerging leaders in the derivatives market. The whitepaper, “GenAI in the Derivatives Market: a Future Perspective.”, was developed by the third cohort
Introduction
The use of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) as an alternative route to access the equity capital markets in the United States of America (US) has fluctuated in popularity over the years as a result of changes in both market conditions and investor appetite. However, US SPAC activity has been
On 7 January 2020, the SFC issued guidance on the licensing obligations of private equity (PE) firms and family offices which conduct business in Hong Kong. This guidance took the form of two circulars, the first of which relates to PE firms (the First Circular) and the second relates to family offices
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) recently issued a consultation paper setting out its proposed regulatory approach for derivatives contracts that reference payment tokens as underlying assets (Payment Token Derivatives).
What is this approach meant to address?
A well-regulated market for derivatives – particularly one anchored by institutional investors with sophisticated
We have recently partnered with the Asia Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA) on its new industry white paper titled, “Tokenised Securities – A Roadmap for Market Participants and Regulators.”
The report analyses how the new value chain will impact market participants, including incumbent financial institutions (FIs) and issuers, and looks at
On 4 April 2019, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) released the conclusions of its consultation on proposed guidelines for securities margin financing activities (the Guidelines).
The existing conduct requirements for securities margin financing activities are mainly prescribed in the Code of Conduct for Persons Licensed by or Registered with the SFC
‘Best Practices for Digital Asset Exchanges’ is a first-of its kind report released by ASIFMA, the region’s leading trade association for the financial industry. The report aims to guide digital exchanges towards international best practices and highlights key areas for consideration, including the listing processes, market abuse issues, regulatory considerations, cybersecurity and engagement with external
With the PRC’s Belt and Road Summit 2017 having just taken place in May 2017, one of the key messages from the summit was that, even with over US$100 billion in funding pledges from the PRC government and other participating countries, greater private sector participation will be required to bring the Belt and Road projects into fruition. With a recent Asian Development Bank report estimating that developing Asia will require infrastructure investment of US$26 trillion from 2016 to 2030 for the creation of new infrastructure and to maintain or upgrade existing infrastructure, it is clear that the Belt and Road initiative is not unique in seeking private sector investment to address such massive investment needs.
For infrastructure projects globally, private sector investment represents an important source of funding as governments look for ways to reduce spending (or exhaust traditional ways of raising revenue). Due to increased regulatory capital needs, lending banks may also face greater difficulty in providing the long-term project finance needed by infrastructure projects. Listing infrastructure projects and raising funds from the equity capital markets can be a dynamic way for infrastructure companies to tap into greater numbers of private sector investors, providing investors with access to infrastructure assets while maintaining flexibility on the size of their minority stakes and exits.
Against that background, certain timely developments have taken place in Hong Kong which may help to lay the foundation for more Asian infrastructure listings.
Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect (Shenzhen Connect) is expected to be launched in the second half of November 2016, according to the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX).
Shenzhen Connect, upon launch, will mark another milestone in HKEX’s market connectivity with Mainland China.
The following documents have been published by HKEX
On 16 August 2016, the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC) and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) jointly announced the approval, in principle, of the establishment of Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect, which will provide mutual stock market access between Hong Kong and Shenzhen via a northbound Shenzhen trading link and a southbound Hong Kong trading link.