Former Hong Kong stock exchange CEO Charles Li plans to launch a platform this autumn for global institutional investors to fund China’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Li told Reuters in an interview that in “traditional finance” investing in SMEs was rarely worthwhile for global institutions as the due diligence was difficult, risks were high and funding amounts small. Li is the majority shareholder in Hong Kong-based New Markets HK Ltd, which will operate NUMAex. The new project would initially target family offices, insurance companies and private wealth managers, to whom the SMEs’ cashflow data would be disclosed in real time, Li said. “China needs a new breed of financial institutions ... that are fundamentally different,” he added.- Reuters

Source: The Standard March 12, 2021 11:12 UTC