发帖
雷达卡
Last updated: February 21, 2016 8:17 pm
New China stock regulator seen easing IPO bottleneck
Gabriel Wildau in Shanghai
Less than 48 hours after his appointment, China's new chief securities regulator, Liu Shiyu, already has investors’ hopes for a stock market rally resting on his shoulders. A popular pun circulating online plays on the phonetic similarity between his name and the Chinese phrase "Bull Market Rain".
Mr Liu took the reins at the China Securities Regulatory Commission on Saturday after Xiao Gang was abruptly dismissed following a rollercoaster year of stock market turmoil and botched efforts to rescue it. The main stock index hit a seven-year high on June 19 but lost nearly half of its value by late January, erasing almost Rmb30tn ($4.6tn) from the two exchanges.
Be briefed before breakfast in Asia - our new early-morning round-up of the global stories you need to know
But Mr Liu, a former central banker, is likely to focus on structural changes aimed at developing the stock market as a more viable fundraising tool for companies, rather than a get-rich-quick scheme for retail punters, analysts say.
“China’s capital markets have reached a crucial moment. The basic approach to regulation needs to be reformed,” said Yang Hai, analyst at Kaiyuan Securities in Xi’an.
“Liu Shiyu has rich experience in finance, he’s an expert. New leadership could take this opportunity to develop the capital markets in a comprehensive way . . . But the stock market’s problems are institutional. You can’t expect a major influence from personnel changes alone.”
China’s leadership has stressed it wants the financial system to channel funds to smaller, more innovative companies, aiding the economy’s transition away from smokestack industries.
That requires a bigger role for capital markets in a financial system that still relies overwhelmingly on bank loans to large, state-owned companies concentrated in low-end manufacturing and construction.
To unlock equity fundraising, Mr Liu must push ahead with a registration-based system for initial public offerings to replace the tightly controlled approval system that for years restricted access to the bourses for cash-starved Chinese companies, analysts say.
Under Mr Xiao —viewed as the face of the unsuccessful all-hands-on-deck market rescue effort — the CSRC committed to implement the registration system, but details about the extent and timing of deregulation remain fuzzy.
“For the newcomer, the challenge is to roll out the market-based IPO system to let the stock market become an even more efficient financing instrument,” said Hong Hao, head of research at Bocom International.
But it is a tough task, say analysts. Some powerful factions have a vested interest in the status quo, which creates rent-seeking opportunities for CSRC officials and pre-IPO investors — including politically connected “princelings” — who can help companies navigate the approval process. At least three CSRC officials involved in IPO approvals were detained for corruption last year.
Equity fundraising by non-financial corporates on China's mainland exchanges hit a record Rmb760bn last year, smashing the previous record of Rmb579bn set in 2010. But most of that occurred in the first half of the year when the market was booming. The CSRC suspended IPO approvals during the July rout, fearing that new listings would further sap demand for existing shares.
The ban was lifted in November following a temporary market rally, but as of this month, 728 companies are still waiting approval — in some cases, years later — to proceed with IPOs in Shanghai or Shenzhen.
Mr Hong says equity-market financing is especially crucial for small and medium-sized enterprises, who struggle to access bank loans.
Mr Liu could unlock fundraising to small firms by loosening listing requirements for the tech-heavy ChiNext board in Shenzhen, say analysts. Current rules require companies to be profitable before listing, a contrast with global counterparts such as Nasdaq in the US.
Still, many Chinese netizens were fatalistic about the change at CSRC. On Weibo, a user whose Chinese name translates as “Profit, profit, win” compared the move to other overhauls of stodgy institutions such as the Spring Festival Gala on state broadcaster CCTV, the widely viewed, widely ridiculed annual variety show that airs on lunar new year’s eve.
“Switching CSRC’s leader, switching the coach of the national football team, switching the Spring Festval Gala's director, whomever you switch it’s no use. If you have a brain tumour, will amputating the head be effective?”
Additional reporting by Ma Nan
提升卡
置顶卡
沉默卡
变色卡
抢沙发
千斤顶
显身卡
京公网安备 11010802022788号
