June 5, 2019 09:40 AM GMT MORGAN STANLEY ASIA LIMITED+ China Equity Strategy | Asia Pacific Jonathan F Garner EQUITY STRATEGIST
[email protected] +852 2848-7288 The Rubio "Equitable Act" - Our Laura Wang EQUITY STRATEGIST
[email protected] +852 2848-6853 First Thoughts Corey Ng, CFA EQUITY STRATEGIST
[email protected] +852 2848-5523 Fran Chen, CFA A new bill sponsored by US Senator Marco Rubio has the EQUITY STRATEGIST potential to cause significant change in the listing domains of
[email protected] +852 2848-7135 Chinese firms. After the market close in the US yesterday 4th June the Wall Street Journal published an Op-Ed by US Senator Marco Rubio in which he announced that he intends to sponsor the “Equitable Act” – an acronym for Ensuring Quality Information and Transparency for Abroad-Based Listings on our Exchanges. At this time the text of the bill has not been published and we are seeking additional information about its contents and likelihood of passing. However, our early reaction is that this has the potential to cause significant changes in the domain for listings of Chinese firms going forward with the potential for de- listing of Chinese firms on US exchanges and re-listing elsewhere (most likely Hong Kong). More generally we see this development as part of an increased escalation of tensions between China and the US on multiple fronts which should cap the valuation multiple for China equities, in particular in the offshore index constituents and US-listed parts of the universe. We provide a list of the potentially impacted China / HK names with either primary or secondary listings on Amex, NYSE or Nasdaq.