Report: Investors Exposed to Risk of Human Rights Violations via Hong Kong Stock Exchange

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Hong Kong Watch, a UK-based human rights organization, released a report on June 11 warning that investors face significant risks of exposure to human rights violations via the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The report found a concerning number of U.S. sanctioned entities from mainland China have securities available for purchase by foreign investors in Hong Kong, raising concerns about complicity with the Chinese Communist Party’s human rights abuses.
The report, titled “Risky Business: How Sanctioned Entities Access Capital via Hong Kong,” analyzes recent regulatory and policy changes that incentivized mainland Chinese entities to list in Hong Kong instead of other offshore markets with stricter due diligence standards, such as the New York Stock Exchange.
Authored by Thomas Benson, senior research and policy advisor at Hong Kong Watch, the report draws on open-source research to highlight the strategic role of Hong Kong’s equity market for Beijing.
“We hope that governments and business both heed the warnings contained within this report,” he added.
The report was released on June 11 at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C., with upcoming presentations scheduled at the UK Parliament in London and the European Parliament in Brussels later this month.
The U.S. government constantly updates trade restriction lists to target foreign governments, companies, and individuals involved in human rights violations and national security threats.
On March 25, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security added 80 entities to its entity list, a large portion of which are Chinese companies linked to Chinese military collaboration, further underscoring the risks outlined in the report.
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