Hong Kong's IPO fundraising this year is expected to hit a record high. Li Zhenguo, Vice Chairman of UBS Global Investment Banking and Co-Head of Asia Corporate Client Solutions, said in an exclusive media interview that September's U.S. interest rate hike was in line with market expectations, market liquidity remains strong, and UBS has raised its full-year fundraising forecast to as much as HK$450 billion.

UBS has revised its full-year fundraising forecast range from HK$350 billion to HK$400 billion in May upward to HK$400 billion to HK$450 billion. According to publicly available data, in the first three quarters of this year Hong Kong recorded 117 new listings, raising at least HK$387.349 billion in total, a year-on-year increase of 1.11 times, already more than HK$100 billion above last year's HK$286.9 billion.

Looking ahead, Li Zhenguo said, "Investment related to AI will continue over the next one to two years, and with Hong Kong IPO projects currently queuing for listing, the IPO atmosphere in Hong Kong is expected to keep improving in the fourth quarter and the first half of next year... I believe investors remain interested in participating in companies with strong investment stories and long-term growth potential, such as high-quality technology-related leading enterprises."

Regarding the types of listing companies, in addition to AI-sector companies and mainland Chinese enterprises as the main sources of listings, international companies' interest in listing in Hong Kong has also increased significantly. Take Merdeka Gold (06228), a Southeast Asian Indonesian gold mining company listed in June this year, as an example. UBS served as one of its joint sponsors, and the project successfully drew international capital attention. Li Zhenguo revealed that since the completion of that project, many inquiries have been received from international companies in sectors such as industrials, consumer, and healthcare about listing in Hong Kong. He said: "Since Merdeka Gold's listing, many more international companies have made inquiries about listing in Hong Kong. I believe the number of non-China-related companies will increase in the coming year... In addition to AI-related companies, traditional sectors that have performed modestly this year, such as consumer-themed and traditional industry companies, are expected to regain market attention in the future, considering valuation, cash flow, and dividends, as well as their role in balancing investment portfolios."

Speaking about the second phase of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing's consultation on enhancing listing competitiveness launched in September, Li Zhenguo revealed, "When discussing listings in Hong Kong with international companies, they all mentioned that if they were to seek a primary listing, there are many connected transaction rules to comply with, and compliance costs are higher than in other countries. International companies also understand the benefits of listing in Hong Kong, such as enhancing the capital pool and increasing stock liquidity. So if regulatory approval and disclosure requirements can be streamlined, it would strengthen international companies' consideration of coming to the Hong Kong market."

In addition, the consultation proposes shortening the rule that a parent company cannot spin off a listing within the first three years to one year. Li Zhenguo believes that given the extremely rapid development of AI, this precisely meets the urgent financing and expansion needs of emerging companies such as those in AI.