ad info




Asiaweek
 home
 intelligence
 web features
 magazine archive
 technology
 newsmap
 customer service
 subscribe
 TIMEASIA.COM
 CNN.COM
  east asia
  southeast asia
  south asia
  central asia
  australasia
 BUSINESS
 SPORTS
 SHOWBIZ
 ASIA WEATHER
 ASIA TRAVEL


Web-only Exclusives
November 30, 2000

From Our Correspondent: Hirohito and the War
A conversation with biographer Herbert Bix

From Our Correspondent: A Rough Road Ahead
Bad news for the Philippines - and some others

From Our Correspondent: Making Enemies
Indonesia needs friends. So why is it picking fights?

Asiaweek Time Asia Now Asiaweek story

THE NEW YORK GOLD RUSH

Why Asian firms are listing on the NYSE


more stories
Big Bang Orix is moving fast to take advantage of Japan's increasingly open markets

Q & A Orix CEO Miyauchi on taking risks

NYSE Listing in New York - the latest corporate fad

IT WAS LIKE A global coming-out party when Orix Corp. went public on the New York Stock Exchange last year. Only the second Japanese financial firm to list - the first was the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi 10 years ago - Orix was in the vanguard of Asian companies to register on the NYSE post-Crisis.

Various Asian firms were set to take their chances in New York two years ago, but the recession scuttled their plans to list. Now, with Asian markets recovering, several of these firms have revived their plans. Korea Telecom joined the exchange last month. And South Korean steel giant Posco plans to list in New York next month. About time, some say. Measured against global economic clout, the region is under-represented on the NYSE - 59 Asian companies are listed, compared with 95 from Latin America.

The benefits are various: harness the exchange's vast fund-raising potential, gain international prestige; put stock in play 24 hours a day. A NYSElisting also has specific benefits for Asian companies with American operations. It allows them to offer stock options to local employees, a boon in a drum-tight labor market. And being on the Big Board makes it easier to conduct mergers and acquisitions in the U.S.; many American firms will not accept foreign stock.

In the past, Asian outfits didn't see the benefits of a New York listing because there was plenty of cheap capital at home. Besides, joining the NYSE meant greater corporate transparency than was required in much of Asia. But James Shapiro, the exchange's Tokyo-based regional representative, says that in discussions with Asian executives, he has observed "a shift in the way people talk about where their companies are going. In the past they were doing so well they didn't think about playing by the rules. Now they realize they have to and are willing to change."

By listing in New York, Shapiro reckons, Asian companies are demonstrating a new willingness to open their operations to outside scrutiny. "The Crisis," he says, "has forced companies to adopt a stark re-evaluation of their practices. If they don't change by improving their corporate governance, they will be left behind." That said, because of legal and other complexities, the NYSE cannot hold an Asian company to the same level of accountability as expected in the U.S.

That hasn't stopped U.S. investors from gobbling up respectable NYSE-listed Asian corporations. Still, share prices plunged in 1997-98 as the region's markets soured - the NYSE is a market, after all. But more recently, improving conditions in Asia have boosted prices in New York trading. The value of Asian holdings by Americans has more than doubled since 1996 to $43.1 billion.

"Ihope it won't take long for Asia to increase its presence on the NYSE," says Shapiro. He reckons interest will surge in the coming two or three years, but that it will be a long time before the region's representation is commensurate with its economic importance.

- Reported by Murakami Mutsuko/Tokyo and Claire MacDonald/Hong Kong


This edition's table of contents | Asiaweek home

AsiaNow


   LATEST HEADLINES:

WASHINGTON
U.S. secretary of state says China should be 'tolerant'

MANILA
Philippine government denies Estrada's claim to presidency

ALLAHABAD
Faith, madness, magic mix at sacred Hindu festival

COLOMBO
Land mine explosion kills 11 Sri Lankan soldiers

TOKYO
Japan claims StarLink found in U.S. corn sample

BANGKOK
Thai party announces first coalition partner



TIME:

COVER: President Joseph Estrada gives in to the chanting crowds on the streets of Manila and agrees to make room for his Vice President

THAILAND: Twin teenage warriors turn themselves in to Bangkok officials

CHINA: Despite official vilification, hip Chinese dig Lamaist culture

PHOTO ESSAY: Estrada Calls Snap Election

WEB-ONLY INTERVIEW: Jimmy Lai on feeling lucky -- and why he's committed to the island state



ASIAWEEK:

COVER: The DoCoMo generation - Japan's leading mobile phone company goes global

Bandwidth Boom: Racing to wire - how underseas cable systems may yet fall short

TAIWAN: Party intrigues add to Chen Shui-bian's woes

JAPAN: Japan's ruling party crushes a rebel ì at a cost

SINGAPORE: Singaporeans need to have more babies. But success breeds selfishness


Launch CNN's Desktop Ticker and get the latest news, delivered right on your desktop!

Today on CNN
 Search

Back to the top   © 2000 Asiaweek. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.

ÿ