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Reuters
7 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Shein's pursuit of an IPO: From New York to London to Hong Kong
May 28 (Reuters) - Shein is working towards a listing in Hong Kong, as Chinese regulators did not approve the online fast-fashion retailer's proposed IPO in London, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter. Here's a timeline of the Singapore-headquarted company's attempts to go public and the various setbacks it has encountered. Shein had moved its headquarters from China to Singapore in 2022, while its supply chains and warehouses largely remain in China. Shein revives plans to list in New York. Founder Chris Xu considers changing his citizenship to bypass proposed tougher rules for offshore IPOs in China, two sources told Reuters. It had first started preparing for a U.S. IPO about two years prior to this but shelved the plan partly due to unpredictable markets amid rising U.S.-China tensions, sources told Reuters. Shein puts its U.S. listing plans on hold due to volatile capital markets amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, sources say. Shein was set to raise around $2 billion in a new funding round. The company was aiming for a U.S. listing in the second half of 2023, sources said. A bipartisan group of two dozen U.S. representatives calls on the Securities and Exchange Commission to halt Shein's IPO, until it verifies that Shein is not using forced labor, according to a letter seen by Reuters. Shein makes moves to register with regulators for an IPO in New York, people familiar with the matter said. Shein was working with at least three investment banks about a potential U.S. IPO and was in talks with the NYSE and Nasdaq, sources said. Shein targets a valuation of as much as $90 billion for an eventual U.S. IPO, Bloomberg News reported. The fashion company confidentially files to go public in the United States, according to Reuters sources. U.S. lawmakers once again demand proof that Shein's $5 t-shirts and $10 sweaters were not being produced using forced labor. Shein held talks, opens new tab with the London Stock Exchange about the possibility of a public listing in the United Kingdom, Sky News reported, citing sources. Shein seeks Beijing's nod to go public in the U.S. to comply with new listing rules for local firms, two sources told Reuters. Republican Senator Marco Rubio, opens new tab asks the U.S. SEC to block Shein's New York listing bid unless the company makes additional disclosures about its business operations and "the serious risks of doing business" in China. Jeremy Hunt, British Finance Minister at the time, held talks with Shein's Executive Chairman Donald Tang, and the fast-fashion chain is keen to list in London, a UK government source told Reuters. Shein steps up preparations for a London listing after its attempt to float itself in New York faced regulatory hurdles and pushback from U.S. lawmakers, sources said. Shein plans to update China's securities regulator on the change of the IPO venue and file with the LSE as soon as May 2024, said one of them. Senior British lawmakers, including the chairs of three parliamentary committees, questioned Shein's suitability for a London stock market listing and called for greater scrutiny of the Chinese-founded firm. Britain's Labour Party says it has met with Shein ahead of a potential London-listing. Shein confidentially files papers with Britain's markets regulator in early June, two sources said. UK-based human rights group Stop Uyghur Genocide launches a legal campaign to block Shein's potential London listing. A new campaign backed by British retail consultant and television personality Mary Portas launches an online petition calling on the new Labour government to block Shein's London listing. Shein was set to hold informal investor meetings for its planned London IPO, sources said. Britain's financial regulator takes longer than usual to approve Shein's IPO. It is checking supply chain oversight and assessing legal risks after an advocacy group challenges the listing, sources report. Shein considers asking UK regulators to waive listing rules that require at least 10% of its shares to be sold to the public in its planned IPO, sources said. Shein aims to list in London in the first half of the year, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter, assuming it gains regulatory approvals. Senior UK lawmaker flags concerns about Shein to LSE and regulator. Shein tells UK lawmakers it does not allow Chinese cotton in products sold in the U.S. Shein is set to cut its valuation in a potential London IPO to around $50 billion, said three sources, nearly a quarter less than the company's 2023 fundraising value. Shein's London listing plans are likely to be postponed to the second half of this year after Donald Trump's move to close so-called "de minimis" rules, the Financial Times reported. Shein is under pressure to cut its valuation to about $30 billion ahead of its London listing, Bloomberg News reported. Shein secures approval from Britain's FCA for its planned London IPO, according to two sources. But also needs to secure approvals from Chinese regulators, notably the CSRC, for the London float, sources have said. Shein drops Brunswick and FGS, the two communications firms supporting its push for a London IPO, a source familiar with the matter confirms, in the latest sign that the flotation is not going to plan. (SOURCES: Reuters stories, other media)
Zawya
26-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Kenya's financial regulators seek to boost issuers' victim compensation
Kenya's financial sector regulators are discussing a proposal to require fund managers, investment banks and stockbrokers to make full disclosures of their clients whose funds are invested in corporate bonds. This is in an attempt to improve the value of compensation to victims of distressed bond issuers and save the corporate bond market from further crisis of confidence. The customer disclosures, the regulators say, will help to ensure bondholders of collapsed or defaulting issuers receive maximum compensation. Currently, fund managers pool together resources from several clients and make investments in corporate bonds as single investments and usually in their name, without disclosing the identities of the investors. This means that in the event an issuer falls into distress, the investment will be treated as a being from a single investor—the fund manager. Therefore, in the case of the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), the fund manager's compensation will be limited to a maximum of Ksh200,000 ($1,550.38), and this has to be shared among the many investors whose resources had been pooled to invest in the bond. Assuming the fund manager collected hundreds of millions from investors and bought a corporate bond, the investors would lose heavily. The financial regulators believe if the identities of the investors in the pooled investment are disclosed, each of them can be treated as an independent bondholder and thus minimise losses.'I think this has been a very good discussion largely and a lot of progress has been made. So, I need to confirm where we are, but I think these discussions have been very helpful. They have involved, of course, all the parties under the joint financial sector regulators and I think they made very good progress,' CMA Chief Executive Wycliffe Shamiah told The EastAfrican in an interview.'The issues of disclosures are the ones we are trying to see how we can make it easier for those who are making these investments, and it has sort of been agreed,' he added. He indicated that discussion among all financial sector regulators—CMA, Central bank of Kenya, Insurance Regulatory Authority, Retirement Benefits Authority and Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority—are centered on full disclosure of the investors whose money is invested by fund managers, investment banks and brokers in bond issues.'We have learnt from experience. For instance, if you find fund manager A has put Ksh100 million ($775,193.79) in a corporate bond. This fund manager is not using money from one person. There are many people who have given him money, so when the Ksh100 million goes bust there are many people who have burnt their fingers because the money was for many investors,' said Mr Shamiah.'So what we were discussing is how we can make it so that when people are being compensated you don't just look at the fund manager alone. You have a way of the fund manager sharing with the rest of the people who are the specific investors so that each of them can be seen as a separate investor,' he added. These discussions follow public outcry over the loss of investor funds in several companies that collapsed or defaulted on their debt repayments after issuing bonds. For instance, in 2015, Chase and Imperial banks were given the go-ahead to issue Ksh4.8 billion ($37.2 million) and Ksh2 billion ($15.5 million) bonds, respectively, only for the two lenders to be pushed into receivership in quick succession by the Central Bank as a result of financial and corporate governance issues. Other companies that have in the past defaulted on their obligations in the corporate debt market include Nakumatt (collapsed), ARM Cement (in liquidation), Real People Kenya Ltd and Consolidated Bank of Kenya, which was later bailed out by the National Treasury. Attempts by the CMA to amend the deposit protection law - separating fund managers' bond investments from customer deposits and other bank liabilities to protect bondholders in case of a bank collapse -have been unsuccessful. The absence of a compensation scheme for bondholders in collapsed companies has instilled fear of investing in corporate bonds. Treasury bonds remain dominant in the Kenyan bond market, accounting for about 99.93 per cent of the debt market. As of December 31, 2024, there were five active listed corporate bond issuers on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, with the total outstanding amount of bond issues at Ksh19.5 billion ($151.16 million). These are East African Breweries Ltd (Ksh11 billion or $85.27 million), Real People Kenya Ltd (Ksh390.93 million or $3.03 million), Family Bank Ltd (Ksh4 billion or $31 million), Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (Ksh1.1 billion or $8.52 million) and Linzi Sukuk (Ksh3 billion or $23.25 million). © Copyright 2022 Nation Media Group. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Times
19-05-2025
- Business
- Times
Banks' ring-fencing rules under scrutiny by City watchdog
City regulators are looking at ways to loosen one of the centrepieces of Britain's post-crisis banking reforms after the rules came under attack from the bosses of some of the country's biggest lenders. It emerged on Monday that officials at the Bank of England's Prudential Regulation Authority are examining options to relax the ring-fencing regime which came into force at the beginning of 2019. It required the UK's largest banks to legally separate their high street businesses from their riskier investment banking divisions. The aim of ring-fencing was to improve the safety of the industry by ensuring consumer deposits are protected in the event a bank collapses. However, some banking executives have long been critical of the rules, arguing that they are inefficient, trap capital
South China Morning Post
14-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Banks upgrade China growth forecast, foreigners flock to Shenzhen: SCMP daily highlights
Catch up on some of SCMP's biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing With tariff reductions signalling a de-escalation of trade tensions between China and the United States, investment banks are upgrading their economic growth forecasts for both countries. The US has unveiled more details about its sixth-generation fighters, intensifying its competition with China for air superiority in future warfare. Shenzhen has gained popularity with international tourists, logging a high number of visa-free entries in 2025. Photo: Dickson Lee Shenzhen, China's southern tech hub, has reported a swell of overseas visitors this year, an influx attributed to the country's expansion of visa-free entry and its integration of the Greater Bay Area, a region that incorporates Guangdong province, Hong Kong and Macau.
Reuters
13-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
CATL offers banks slim fees in world's largest listing in 2025
HONG KONG, May 13 (Reuters) - Investment banks handling the world's largest listing so far this year are set to earn underwriting fees well below the industry norm, with advisers willing to endure skinny margins to win business following a prolonged slump in listings. Nine underwriters of Shenzhen-listed battery giant CATL ( opens new tab are slated to receive a maximum of HK$238.7 million, the Chinese company said in a securities filing on Monday, with much of that discretionary, based on the success of the deal. The fixed commission on what is Hong Kong's biggest listing so far this year is just 0.2% of the proceeds raised, well below the industry average. It's only a third of what home appliance manufacturer Midea ( opens new tab paid banks last year for its near $4.6 billion listing in Hong Kong, and one-fourth of the 0.8% underwriting fee awarded by China's largest express delivery company S.F. Holding ( opens new tab in its $792 million Hong Kong secondary listing last November. CATL said in the filing it may grant a 0.6% discretionary fee as an incentive. The razor-thin fees underscore challenging conditions for banks in Asia's financial hub, even as a recent surge in trading volumes and new listings has ignited hopes for a revival in large Chinese issuances. "The fee income barely covers the cost, but banks are eyeing the discretionary fees and hope securing a role will help them stay on future deals," said one source familiar with the pitching process. Banks typically get paid 2% to 2.5% of the total proceeds raised from a Hong Kong initial public offering, bankers say, however deals bigger than $500 million could compress the fee to 1%. The commission paid to CATL's underwriters would be 0.76% at its maximum. Dealogic ranks Hong Kong as one of the lowest fee-paying financial centres in the world. JPMorgan (JPM.N), opens new tab, Bank of America (BAC.N), opens new tab, China International Capital Corporation (CICC) and China Securities International are the sponsors of the CATL deal. Each of the sponsors will earn $300,000 for the role, which is around half the market average for the last five years, according to Dealogic data. International and Chinese banks have suffered a multi-year long deal slump in Hong Kong, but a recent revival in transactions has fuelled hope of a comeback for large issuances. CATL's books have been multiple times oversubscribed with strong demand from sovereign wealth and global long-only investors since its launch on Monday, according to a book message sent to investors on Tuesday and reviewed by Reuters. Some underwriters jostled to win a role in the deal, willing to accept much slimmer fees than normal thus sacrificing margins, three sources with knowledge of the pitching process told Reuters. Goldman Sachs (GS.N), opens new tab, Morgan Stanley (MS.N), opens new tab and UBS are joint global coordinators on the CATL Hong Kong listing, with BNP Paribas ( opens new tab and Guotai Junan in junior roles. However Goldman Sachs and UBS, both of which have worked on some of CATL's previous equity deals, decided not to pursue more senior roles on the new listing partly due to the low fees, said two sources familiar with the matter. Goldman and UBS declined to comment. Both banks worked on CATL's 45 billion yuan share placement in 2022 and advised the company in an attempt to raise over $5 billion in Swiss global depository receipts offering in 2023. ($1 = 7.7932 Hong Kong dollars) ($1 = $1.0000) ($1 = 7.2011 Chinese yuan)
