China’s DiDi Announces Delisting From NYSE; Plans To List In Hong Kong
Chinese ride-hailing company DiDi recently announced that it is delisting from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) due to government probing and regulations.
The company said on its Weibo account on 3 December 2021 that the decision was made after careful consideration - a decision that came less than six months after DiDi debuted on the NYSE in July 2021.
According to a Bloomberg report, the Chinese government asked the company to delist from the NYSE due to concerns about leakage of sensitive data. You may remember that DiDi's app was once ordered to be removed from app stores in China after the Chinese government alleged that Didi engaged in illegally collecting and using personal data.
Since its debut in the NYSE, DiDi's share price has gone down by 44%, closing at US$7.80 on 2 December 2021.
The company has also decided to pursue a listing in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (KSE) and advised shareholders in the U.S. to convert their American Depositary shares into freely tradable ones in the HKSE. This is so that American shareholders will not be forced to sell shares to switch to the HKSE.
DiDi isn't the only Chinese company leaving the U.S. The NYSE also delisted Chinese telecom companies China Mobile Ltd., China Unicom and China Telecom Corp due to U.S. President Joe Biden retaining the investment restrictions on Chinese technology firms placed by his predecessor, Donald Trump.
America's Securities and Exchange Commission announced on 2 December 2021 that it has adopted amendments to the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act. The new amendments would force foreign companies to open their books to U.S. scrutiny or risk being removed from the NYSE and NASDAQ within three years. A Bloomberg report said that only China and Hong Kong refused to allow the inspections despite the U.S. government requiring them since 2002.
China has also given ample reasons for Chinese companies to delist from U.S.-led stock exchanges. The Chinese government has been reining in the influence of the country's tech companies in an attempt to control the country's data - a strategic asset in the country's showdown with the U.S., according to China experts.
China enacted its Personal Information Privacy Law (PIPL) and its Data Security Law in November 2021 and September 2021, respectively. The PIPL laid down rules for how businesses collect, use, process, share and transfer personal information, effectively regulating how data is used in China.
The Cyberspace Administration of China also released the Network Data Security Management Regulation last month, forcing companies that want to be listed in the HKSE to undergo a cybersecurity review. Companies have to go through the review for the government to know if the companies' IPOs "affect or may affect national security" before being given the go-ahead.
DiDi was among the first Chinese companies to have been impacted by this move from China, as previously shown.
Written by John Paul Joaquin