HSBC eyes eventual Shanghai listing

HSBC Holdings hopes to be among the first foreign firms to list on the Shanghai stock exchange within two to three years, the South China Morning Post reported, citing comments by the firm’s executive director. Peter Wong Tung-shun said HSBC had been in talks with mainland authorities but that no definite timeline for a Shanghai listing had been set. China’s government said last week it would permit foreign firms to list in Shanghai and to use the renminbi for trade settlements on a trial basis. Details of the government plan have yet to be revealed, making it difficult to know whether foreign firms could list in Shanghai this year, Wong said. He added that HSBC still had ambitions to tap the mainland securities market and had applied to issue renminbi-denominated bonds in Hong Kong.