How should we view HKEX’s proposed merger with the London Stock Exchange?

------------------------End----------------------- Slap! Slap! Slap! A humiliating rebuff—truly devastating. It’s hard to find words to describe it. Humiliation? Let’s summarize the key points in essence: 1. You launched your bid without prior consultation—a move widely perceived as a hostile takeover. 2. Strategically and operationally, you’re lagging behind. By contrast, our acquisition of Refinitiv—the world’s leading provider of financial market data and infrastructure—is a truly visionary move. (Put simply: HKEX may represent a ‘Version 2.0’ exchange, whereas LSEG is already operating at ‘Version 4.0’ or ‘5.0’, advancing toward even higher tiers.) 3. Hong Kong is currently engulfed in internal turmoil. Your business is heavily concentrated in Hong Kong—its financial markets are your core revenue source, and you’re listed there too. Given the profound uncertainty surrounding Hong Kong’s future role—and its position within China’s external relations—how could our shareholders possibly accept such an offer at this juncture? 4. The Chinese market is critically important to us. We’ve forged a direct partnership with the Shanghai Stock Exchange—the optimal and most straightforward gateway into China’s capital markets. The much-touted Shanghai-London Connect not only politically legitimizes LSEG but also deliberately sidelines HKEX while actively supporting China’s domestic market and SSE. 5. Have you even studied the regulatory approvals required? This deal would need clearance from the UK, France, Italy, and the US governments. Read between the lines: amid today’s fractured global landscape—unresolved trade tensions, strained Hong Kong–Beijing relations—how likely is approval from Western governments? Have you seriously assessed this? (Note: LSEG owns LCH, a subsidiary that provides bond and repo clearing services for governments across 13 countries—including France, Germany, Italy, the US, and the UK. Thus, HKEX’s proposed acquisition would trigger mandatory reviews by all these nations.) Under Charles Li’s leadership, HKEX successfully acquired the London Metal Exchange (LME) in 2012—an achievement that likely emboldened them to aim even higher in 2019, targeting the far larger LSEG (by comparison, LME is merely a ‘small radish’). But: Times have changed. Today’s international environment bears no resemblance to that of 2012. —Hong Kong’s internal unrest; —Uncertainty over Hong Kong’s future; —Intensifying US–China trade friction and rapidly shifting external conditions; —The UK’s consistent pursuit of strategic advantage amid great-power competition, always adept at finding its own niche. In such a complex external environment, LSEG would never act rashly. Finance is Hong Kong’s number-one industry—and it is almost entirely concentrated on the HKEX platform. Finance is also London’s most vital industry. So what interests does HKEX’s bid truly represent—at this precise moment? What interests does it represent *today*? What might it represent *tomorrow*? How will Beijing interpret it? How will Beijing manage its relationship with HKEX going forward? How will Washington view it? How will Washington manage its relationship with HKEX? These are profoundly complex questions—far beyond the capacity of exchange executives (a group of business professionals) or shareholders (commercial investment institutions) to resolve.

Hong Kong’s sudden global power grab over pricing! A ‘gilded covert campaign’ to end dollar hegemony!

As global capital trembles amid turbulent world conditions, the price of one troy ounce of gold has surged nearly maniacally to a historic high of $3,300—the ‘shiniest star’ among global assets, now the sole ‘safe haven’ amid financial storms. Yet even more dazzling is Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee’s bold gamble: transforming this Eastern Pearl into the ‘new heart’ of global commodity and gold trading—and piercing the iron curtain of dollar hegemony with the sharp edge of the renminbi. A ‘gilded revolution’ reshaping the global wealth order is quietly setting sail from the horn blasts of cargo vessels in Victoria Harbour. Breaking Through the Tariff War—and Seizing Opportunity When Trump’s tariff sledgehammer slammed into global steel and aluminum industries, Hong Kong quietly unsheathed a ‘financial scalpel.’ On April 15, the London Metal Exchange (LME)—a subsidiary of HKEX—announced formal approval for its first batch of warehousing facilities located in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, enabling receipt and storage of commodities meeting LME’s delivery requirements. As the world’s largest non-ferrous metals exchange, LME’s prices and inventory levels exert enormous influence over global industrial operations. Seventy percent of the world’s copper trade is priced against LME benchmarks. Moreover, the globally shocking ‘nickel short squeeze’ of March 2022 was halted only when LME itself hit the pause button. Commodities—including metals, minerals, and agricultural products—account for over half of global shipping volume; shipowners and commodity traders constitute the primary users of shipping routes and maritime services. Today, Hong Kong is forging a ‘key’ to unlock access to the global commodities battlefield. In his October 2024 Policy Address, Chief Executive John Lee stated that Hong Kong aims to attract related enterprises to set up shop locally, build a comprehensive commodities trading ecosystem, and boost commodities warehousing and trade volumes. This initiative will stimulate maritime services and drive growth in financial and professional services—including futures hedging—thereby reinforcing Hong Kong’s status as an international financial, shipping, and trading hub. Source: Hong Kong 01 Amid the tit-for-tat ‘blade-throwing’ of the US–China tariff war, Hong Kong’s shipping industry faces structural adjustment and challenges. Developing a commodities industry thus opens a new door to prosperity. Why Hong Kong? As the world’s largest commodities consumer and importer, China has established commodity futures exchanges in Shanghai, Zhengzhou, Dalian, and Guangzhou—but these remain relatively isolated from overseas international markets. The dominant global commodities trading and price-setting venues remain Chicago, New York, and London. China still occupies a comparatively weak position. Hong Kong, serving as mainland China’s gateway market and offshore financial center, enjoys unique advantages bridging Eastern and Western commerce and investment. When New York sleeps and London hasn’t yet awakened, Hong Kong sits perfectly in the middle—enabling seamless 24-hour global trading and seizing pricing power. By building a commodities trading ecosystem and developing an Asia-Pacific commodities trading hub, Hong Kong can become the ‘super connector’ of global finance and trade. From Commodities to an International Gold Trading Hub John Lee declared: ‘We will use the development of a commodities trading ecosystem as our entry point—to cultivate international gold, non-ferrous metals, and green shipping markets—and establish Hong Kong as an international gold trading hub.’ Today’s volatile geopolitical landscape highlights Hong Kong’s strengths in safety and stability. With gold imports and exports ranking among the world’s highest, Hong Kong is well positioned to attract investors for gold storage—and to expand gold trading, clearing, and settlement activities.

State-Backed Shanghai Port in Talks to Buy LME Warehouse Firm, Sources Say

16 hours ago

Shanghai International Port Group is negotiating to acquire H&M Metal Warehousing, an LME-approved firm, to gain insights into global metal flows. This move aims to strengthen China's presence in industrial metals trading infrastructure.

reuters

2026-10-12

State-Backed Shanghai Port in Talks to Buy LME Warehouse Firm, Sources Say

State-Backed Shanghai Port in Talks to Buy LME Warehouse Firm, Sources Say

FAQ