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Last Thursday, the New York Stock Exchange announced that it had started a process of radiation three Chinese telecommunications companies from its stock exchange, to comply with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump in November which aims to exclude certain Chinese companies from the American markets.
On Monday, telecoms shares – China Unicom Hong Kong, China Mobile and China Telecom – fell 5%, and the Three companies Posted statements tell investors how they could trade their US Depositary Shares (ADS) for Hong Kong-listed stocks. Elsewhere, index funds like the FTSE Russell announced that they were going remove companies from their indexes.
Then, Monday night in New York City, the NYSE announced that it would not be delisting companies after all.
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“In light of further consultations with the relevant regulatory authorities in the context of FAQ 857 of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, [the NYSE] announced today that NYSE regulation no longer intends to proceed with the delisting action of the three issuers, ”the exchange operator said in a declaration.
It’s unclear why the NYSE backed down on its plans. Trump’s November executive order called for the delisting of what he called “Communist Chinese military” companies, or companies that Washington says support the Chinese military, from US markets. A few weeks later, the Treasury Department issued a listing 35 Chinese so-called communist military companies, including China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom.
China Mobile and NYSE did not immediately respond Fortune request for comments Tuesday. But in its statement Monday night, the NYSE said its decision on whether or not to remove the list was not over, as NYSE regulators “continue to assess the applicability” of the incumbent president’s executive order.
China Unicom issued a declaration Tuesday morning through the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, where it is also listed, which said it saw the NYSE reversal and “continue to monitor” the situation.
China Telecom released a declaration Around the same time.
The two telecoms have advised investors to “exercise caution” when dealing in their company’s shares.
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