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BEIJING, August 8 (TMTPOST)— Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. made more progress in reducing fluctuation risks from the possible booting from the U.S. stock market.
Source: Visual China
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) issued its Primary Conversion Exchange Acknowledgement pursuant to Alibaba’s Change of Listing Status Guidance Letter on Monday, effectively approving the Chinese internet giant’s application for conversion of its secondary listing status in Hong Kong to a primary listing, according to a filing to the exchange that day. Alibaba expected the primary conversion to be effective by the end of 2022.
Alibaba said the Primary Conversion has not materialized and is subject to, among other things, satisfaction of the relevant requirements of HKEX and market conditions. Once the conversion completes, the company will become a dual primary listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the stock marker “S” will be removed from our stock short name on HKEX.
Alibaba announced on July 26 to seek the dual primary listing in Hong Kong, an attempt for allowing its shares continue to be traded even if it fails to avoid of being delisted from the U.S. stock market. Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang said the decision to add Hong Kong as another primary listing venue was made to foster a wider and more diversified investor base to share in Alibaba’s growth and future, especially from China and other markets in Asia.
In late July, days after the announcement, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has added Alibaba to a provisional list for failing to comply with the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (HFCAA), which allows SEC to prohibit companies from trading and make listed companies be kicked out of U.S. exchanges if the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), SEC’s accounting body, is unable to inspect or investigate these company audits for three consecutive years.
The SEC so far has placed more than 250 Chinese companies in the list, suggesting a majority of U.S.-listed Chinese companies face mass delistings if China and the United States cannot reach a deal for U.S. regulators to inspect the audit papers of Chinese firms. In a filling last Monday, Alibaba said it would “strive to maintain its listing status” on both the HKEX and NYSE.
