China blocks share sales

摘要

Underwriters of Chinese ECM trades face an uncertain second half after regulators revived their old tactic of freezing domestic share sales in a bid to halt a market rout. After a raft of market stabilisation measures failed to halt a slump in China's stock market, the china securities regulatory commission froze A-share IPOs on July 5. The move came only two days after the same regulator said it would reduce the number and size of new listings without imposing a complete ban, explaining that raising money through IPOs was a basic function of capital markets. China has routinely halted new listings during previous slides in the A-share market, most recently barring all IPOs for 13 months until December 2013.