U.S. investment ban on China has little impact on Hong Kong market: SFC

Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) Ashley Alder said on Monday that the investment ban imposed on China by the United States had little impact on the Hong Kong market.

At the end of last year, the United States issued an executive order imposing sanctions on Chinese companies that it believed had ties with the Chinese military, and prohibiting U.S. investors from investing in these companies. The executive order came into effect on Jan. 11 this year.

Alder said that there have been different understandings towards the investment ban in the Hong Kong market and some sanctions have been postponed by the U.S. Therefore, the impact on Hong Kong market was slight and controllable.

Alder said that the SFC has been in close communication with various financial institutions, including U.S. banks operating in Hong Kong since the introduction of the ban to study how they could enforce the ban. The SFC also provided financial institutions with guidelines, hoping to reduce negative impact.

One of the examples is that Tracker Fund of Hong Kong, Hong Kong's largest and most active funds, recently changed its mind and withdrawn its decision to ban investment in sanctioned Chinese stocks.

The SFC said that the amount and proportion of U.S. investors' shares in Tracker Fund were very small and would not have a destructive impact on the operation of the fund and the interests of investors.