How public equity fuels Asia’s growth

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February 25, 2019

RAPID growth of Asia's stock markets is driving change in global financial markets - and in M&A. The OECD says integration of Asia's financial markets with the global market has begun . . .
ASIAN companies are now the world's largest users of public equity financing, raising US$81 billion in 2017. Almost twice as many initial public offerings as the annual average between 2000 and 2016 came to market in Asia in that single year. A record number of 1,074 companies listed in Asia in 2017.
In its annual analysis of the global financial market, the Paris-based OCED notes that, on an international scale, the most important development has been the rapid growth of Asian stock markets - both in absolute and in relative terms.
This has, in turn, led to a rise in the number of global pension funds and other institutions investing in Asian equities and Asian corporate bonds. There has also been an increase in mergers and acquisitions.
According to the OECD, integration of Asia's financial markets with the global market has begun. Among the most significant developments, it says, is the implementation of Stock Connect in Hong Kong, which paved the way for foreign investors to buy Chinese A-shares.