
The New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday said that it would delist three Chinese telecom companies starting January 11.
This marks another U-turn in a series of delisting plans. On Tuesday, US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told the NYSE chief that he disagreed with the decision to reverse the delistings. This marks the third such u-turn, owing to the confusion in with regard to rules carved out by Donald Trump administration, with tensions escalating between the US and China.
On Monday, the NYSE had reversed the decision to delist China Telecom Corp Ltd, China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd, and China Mobile Ltd after a series of consultations with US regulators.
The plans to delist Chinese firms came amid a White House executive order to ban US investment in companies that are linked to the Chinese military. Mnuchin on Tuesday told NYSE President Stacey Cunningham that he disagreed with NYSE’s previous decision.
The about-face was due to ambiguity over an executive order issued by President Donald Trump barring investment in firms Washington says are tied to the Chinese military, and whether the three firms were banned under the order, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
However, on Tuesday, it said it would go ahead with the delistings, which were planned on or before January 11, if it deems the companies are subject to the order.
Bloomberg earlier reported that the NYSE may flip back.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin phoned NYSE President Stacey Cunningham on Tuesday to tell her he disagreed with the exchange operator's decision to reverse course on the delistings.
The NYSE is owned by Atlanta-based Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE), which is run by billionaire Jeffrey Sprecher, whose wife Kelly Loeffler, also a former ICE executive, is one of two Republican senators facing run-off elections on Tuesday in Georgia. Loeffler is a staunch supporter of President Trump.