China/US: New Foreign IPO Rules Improve the Outlook for US Listings to Resume

Draft rules from China’s securities regulator suggest that Beijing will continue to permit some foreign stock-market listings and that most already-listed companies will not be forced to de-list. But the rules grant regulators broad discretion to block foreign initial public offerings (IPOs) for a variety of reasons, including national security and data security. Separately, new guidance from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) paves the way for the agency to resume processing of IPO filings from Chinese companies, following a pause. Penalties imposed on Didi Global in July following the company’s New York IPO raised the prospect that Beijing…