Latest news with #EddieYueWai-man
South China Morning Post
7 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong's OSL Group raises US$300 million amid stablecoin anticipation
Hong Kong-based OSL Group, the city's first listed and licensed virtual-asset trading platform, said on Friday that it raised HK$2.36 billion (US$300 million) through the sale of existing shares, top-up subscriptions and new shares, amid heightened market anticipation around stablecoins It was the largest publicly disclosed equity raise in Asia's digital-asset sector to date, the company said on Friday. Hong Kong is set to allow stablecoin issuance under new regulations that take effect on August 1. Excitement over the change prompted Eddie Yue Wai-man, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, to issue a warning on Wednesday, cautioning against 'excessive market and public opinion speculation'. OSL's major shareholder Crown Research Investments sold 101.19 million existing shares at HK$14.90 per share, a 15.34 per cent discount to the closing price on Thursday, according to a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange. The same number of shares will be reissued to the seller at the same price through a top-up subscription. The shares represent 16.14 per cent of OSL's existing issued share capital and 13.9 per cent of the issued share capital as enlarged by the allotment and issue of the top-up shares. The company's Hong Kong-traded stock dropped 6.6 per cent to HK$16.44 in the morning trading session on Friday. OSL also issued 9.34 million new shares to two independent investors, WK Triangulum Investment and Brand Wisdom, which have agreed to subscribe to 2.63 million shares and 6.71 million shares, respectively.
South China Morning Post
7 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong's OSL Group raises US$300 million amid stablecoin anticipation
Hong Kong-based OSL Group, the city's first listed and licensed virtual-asset trading platform, said on Friday that it raised HK$2.36 billion (US$300 million) through the sale of existing shares, top-up subscriptions and new shares, amid heightened market anticipation around stablecoins It was the largest publicly disclosed equity raise in Asia's digital-asset sector to date, the company said on Friday. Hong Kong is set to allow stablecoin issuance under new regulations that take effect on August 1. Excitement over the change prompted Eddie Yue Wai-man, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, to issue a warning on Wednesday, cautioning against 'excessive market and public opinion speculation'. OSL's major shareholder Crown Research Investments sold 101.19 million existing shares at HK$14.90 per share, a 15.34 per cent discount to the closing price on Thursday, according to a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange. The same number of shares will be reissued to the seller at the same price through a top-up subscription. The shares represent 16.14 per cent of OSL's existing issued share capital and 13.9 per cent of the issued share capital as enlarged by the allotment and issue of the top-up shares. The company's Hong Kong-traded stock dropped 6.6 per cent to HK$16.44 in the morning trading session on Friday. OSL also issued 9.34 million new shares to two independent investors, WK Triangulum Investment and Brand Wisdom, which have agreed to subscribe to 2.63 million shares and 6.71 million shares, respectively.
South China Morning Post
06-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong's Exchange Fund posts US$8.7 billion gain amid stock market rally
Hong Kong's Exchange Fund, the war chest used to defend the local currency, reported an investment gain of HK$67.2 billion (US$8.7 billion) in the first quarter, thanks to stock market rallies in the city and overseas. Advertisement In the year-earlier period, the fund posted a gain of HK$62.3 billion, though in the final quarter of 2024, it recorded a loss of HK$20.1 billion, according to data from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) on Tuesday. Over the course of the quarter, the benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 15 per cent as Chinese stocks soared after artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek rolled out its low-cost, high-performance models. The Exchange Fund, however, was expected to face a number of uncertainties for the rest of the year, after the US' tariff policies triggered market turmoil in April. 'The US tariff policy has created a lot of market uncertainties since early April, but we continue to see capital inflow to Hong Kong stock markets for the many upcoming new listings,' said the de facto central bank's chief executive, Eddie Yue Wai-man, during his quarterly meeting with lawmakers on Tuesday. Advertisement The fund's total assets stood at HK$3.98 trillion at the end of March, a HK$46 billion decrease from the end of last year.
South China Morning Post
28-04-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
HKMA to help banks assess firms for trade financing by using cargo data
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has launched a new initiative that will use cargo logistics data to help banks assess companies for trade financing amid escalating global worries about tariffs. Advertisement The initiative, called CargoX, would expand data sets and applications in the de facto central bank's electronic platform – the Commercial Data Interchange (CDI) – in an effort to make trade financing more readily available to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the HKMA said on Monday. The move would help SMEs cope with 'the current complex international trade situation', it said. Around a quarter of Hong Kong's SMEs are involved in import-export trade and wholesale businesses, the HKMA said. 'In today's complex global trade landscape, many businesses, in particular SME traders, need more digitalised and efficient trade finance solutions to transform their business models and supply chains,' HKMA chief executive Eddie Yue Wai-man said. 'Leveraging cargo data and our next-generation CDI data infrastructure, CargoX will help resolve some long-standing pain points in trade finance for banks, ultimately boosting efficiency and driving industry-wide innovation.' The CargoX programme will securely share sea, road and air cargo logistics data – with the consent of the companies involved – so that banks can more accurately evaluate their corporate lending. Advertisement
South China Morning Post
31-03-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
JD Industrials, Unisound AI revive Hong Kong IPOs as Chinese listings accelerate
E-commerce giant industrial unit could raise US$500 million to US$1 billion from its third attempt to list in Hong Kong amid improved sentiment in the city's stock market, according to a source with knowledge of the matter. Advertisement JD Industrials and another Chinese firm, Unisound AI Technology, resubmitted their initial public offering (IPO) applications to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Sunday. They did not disclose their fundraising expectations, according to separate filings. It was Unisound's third application. The firms' previous Hong Kong listing plans, in 2023 and 2024, respectively, lapsed due to unfavourable market conditions and valuation mismatches. They are now betting on the city's revitalised IPO market this year, driven by regulatory support for Chinese firms to list in Hong Kong and optimism in the technology sector following breakthroughs by Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek The reopening of the pathway for Chinese listings was 'important in driving sentiment', Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Eddie Yue Wai-man said during a conference last week . 'We've got another 100 applications in the pipeline,' he added. JD Industrials, established in 2017, is China's largest industrial supply chain technology and service provider by gross merchandise value (GMV). It is nearly three times the size of its closest competitor, according to China Insights Consultancy. Advertisement Its GMV rose to 28.8 billion yuan (US$4 billion) in 2024 from 22.3 billion yuan in 2022, representing a compound annual growth rate of 13.5 per cent. It also turned around the business by logging a net profit of 761.6 million yuan last year from a net loss of 1.3 billion yuan in 2022. In March 2023, said it would spin off its property and industrial units and list them in Hong Kong. Around that time, a group of investors including Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, Abu Dhabi fund 42XFund, asset manager M&G, private equity firm BPEA EQT and Chinese venture capital firm HongShan put a total of US$300 million into JD Industrials via series B preferred share financing.
