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US regulators on Thursday killed the sale of the Chicago Stock Exchange (CHX) to a group led by China-based investors, saying a lack of information on the would-be buyers threatened the ability to properly monitor the exchange after the deal.
The move by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ends a two-year battle to gain approval for the sale and underscores the more hostile environment facing Chinese buyers under the administration of US President Donald Trump.
Trump brought the CHX deal up twice during the election campaign as an example of how jobs and wealth were leaving the US.
SEC staff initially approved the sale of the privately owned exchange in August, but within minutes of the announcement SEC commissioners, led by Chairman Jay Clayton, a Trump appointee, put the decision on hold for further review.
Future in doubt
After a two-year delay, the SEC’s decision puts CHX’s future in doubt. The exchange said it needed the infusion of capital to invest in its operations and attract business.
Chongqing Casin Enterprise Group, who led the acquisition proposal, had said it saw potential in CHX and that its long-term goal was to list Chinese companies in the US on the bourse. It also planned to eventually build an exchange in China using CHX technology.
If the deal had been approved it would have marked the first time Chinese investors had been direct owners of a US stock exchange, although not the first time a US exchange had foreign owners.
Deutsche Boerse AG bought the US-based International Securities Exchange for 2.8 billion US dollars in 2007, before selling it to Nasdaq Inc for 1.1 billion US dollars in 2016.
CHX is a niche player in the industry, handling just 0.5 percent of US equities trades.
The acquisition, which was proposed in February 2016 and worth around 25 million US dollars, was led by Chongqing Casin, a privately held company that invests in real estate development and financial holdings.
Casin, through CHX, has denied any affiliation with the Chinese government and no connections have been shown.
Bid in Bangladesh rebuffed
In Bangladesh, Chinese investors’ bid for Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) was approved by the board but it was rebuffed by Bangladesh’s financial regulators, AFP reported on Thursday.
DSE chief executive Majedur Rahman confirmed India’s National Stock Exchange had offered 15 taka (0.18 US dollar) per share during a tender process this month for a 25 per cent stake in the bourse’s 1.8 billion shares.
China’s Shanghai and Shenzen stock exchanges made a joint higher bid of 22 taka (0.26 US dollar) per share, or 122 million US dollars, and “also offered technical support worth nearly 37 million US dollar,” Rahman said.
“The BSEC (Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission) declined to give the order to go ahead,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity, “It also asked the DSE to further scrutinize the proposals.”
The BSEC declined to comment on whether the Chinese offer had been formally rejected.
But the regulator’s executive director Saifur Rahman said it could “always override the exchange’s decisions.”
“No final conclusion has been drawn yet. The auction process is still at an early stage,” he said.
Local reports had blamed political interference for the alleged favoritism toward India, despite the offer from the Mumbai-based stock exchange falling short of China’s more lucrative bid by nearly 50 per cent.
(AP & REUTERS)
