ST. LOUIS and HONG KONG, Sept. 25, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE: SF) and Hong Kong’s Everbright Sun Hung Kai Company Limited (“Everbright Sun Hung Kai”) today announced a strategic partnership designed to help U.S. and Chinese clients with advisory and capital markets needs across global markets.



The arrangement, which extends to all Stifel-owned companies, will focus on cross-border cooperation on everything from private capital raising, to new issue listings, and mergers and acquisitions.

“The pace of both capital raising in Asia and cross-border M&A is rapidly accelerating”, noted Brad Raymond, Global Head of Investment Banking at Stifel. “As companies increasingly think more globally, being able to leverage the local market expertise of Everbright Sun Hung Kai in Asia makes our value proposition to clients that much stronger.”

According to Thomson Reuters data, the value of M&A deals announced globally in the first half of 2018 was US$2.5 trillion, up 64% compared to the same period a year ago. Deals involving companies based in different countries accounted for more than 40% of total transactions.

The market for initial public offerings during the same time period was also among the strongest on record. From January through June, there were an industry leading 97 IPOs in Hong Kong alone, capturing nearly 15% of all global new offerings. Asia Pacific, as a region, accounted for nearly half (46%) of global IPOs.

“This partnership is especially timely given The Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s ongoing effort to ease restriction requirements on the local listing of technology and biotechnology companies, sectors of particular focus for Stifel,” noted Li Bingtao, Executive Director and CEO of Everbright Sun Hung Kai. “It is also an extension of our international footprint, enabling us to fulfill our commitment to serve our clients’ needs globally.”

The capabilities of Stifel and Everbright Sun Hung Kai are highly complementary. Since 2010, Stifel has been the leading advisor on all public deals valued under US$1 billion and among the 10 largest equity deal managers. Everbright Sun Hung Kai ranked first amongst all Chinese backed advisors in Hong Kong, having completed six IPOs in the first half of this year.

Stifel Company Information 

Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE: SF) is a financial services holding company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, that conducts its banking, securities, and financial services business through several wholly owned subsidiaries. Stifel’s broker-dealer clients are served in the United States through Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated, including its Eaton Partners business division; Keefe Bruyette & Woods, Inc.; Miller Buckfire & Co., LLC; Century Securities Associates, Inc., and in the United Kingdom and Europe through Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited. The Company’s broker-dealer affiliates provide securities brokerage, investment banking, trading, investment advisory, and related financial services to individual investors, professional money managers, businesses, and municipalities. Stifel Bank and Stifel Bank & Trust offer a full range of consumer and commercial lending solutions. Stifel Trust Company, N.A. and Stifel Trust Company Delaware, N.A. offer trust and related services. To learn more about Stifel, please visit the Company’s website at www.stifel.com.

Everbright Sun Hung Kai Information 

Everbright Sun Hung Kai Company Limited (“EBSHKCL”) is a leading financial institution with four core businesses, Wealth Management and Brokerage, Corporate Finance and Capital Markets, Asset Management, Investment and Structured Financing. Operating under the Everbright Sun Hung Kai brand (“EBSHK”) as well as the EBSHK Direct and EBSHK Private sub-brands, EBSHKCL is a subsidiary of Everbright Securities Company Limited (“Everbright Securities”, SSE: 601788, HKEX: 6178), with Sun Hung Kai & Co. Limited (HKEX: 86) as its substantial shareholder, serving individual, corporate and institutional clients in Hong Kong, Macau, Mainland China and the U.K.

Backed by Everbright Securities and China Everbright Group member companies, coupled with its heritage in the financial industry beginning in 1969, EBSHK has emerged to be a full-fledged financial platform providing excellent cross-border and global financial services with Moody’s “Baa3” long-term issuer and “Prime-3” short-term issuer credit ratings. EBSHKCL, through its subsidiaries, currently has over HK$143 billion* in assets under management, custody and/or advice. For more information, please visit .</s>The Hong Kong government has earmarked a site in Kwun Tong for an academy to train 180,000 civil servants to better deliver public services in the face of new challenges – an initiative announced by the city’s leader in her maiden policy address last year.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor is expected to provide an update on preparations for the civil service college when she unveils her second policy blueprint on October 10.

Programmes will focus on developing leadership and public communications abilities. The facility will be modelled after overseas academies for public sector managers, such as the Civil Service College of Singapore and the Australia and New Zealand School of Government.

Ray Yep Kin-man, a City University political scientist who has given lectures for civil service training programmes, said the government’s handling of post-typhoon clear-up work and travel arrangements highlighted the need for senior officials to enhance their political judgment.

Lam and her ministers came under fire last week for underestimating the chaos brought from widespread damage caused by Typhoon Mangkhut, the most intense storm to hit Hong Kong since records began.

Sources familiar with the government’s preparations for the college said a site in Kwun Tong had been identified for the facility, but it remained unclear when Lam’s brainchild would be up and running.

During a visit to Singapore in August last year, Lam pledged to set up Hong Kong’s first academy for its civil servants after touring the city state’s Civil Service College – an experience she called “very enlightening”.

Post-storm guidelines for civil servants to be examined after Typhoon Mangkhut

Hong Kong Secretary for the Civil Service Joshua Law Chi-kong also visited the Singapore college during his trip to the Lion City in October last year.

In May, Law said the government had identified an appropriate site for the college building and was conducting a study into the project.

Asked to confirm whether a site in Kwun Tong had been chosen, a spokesman for the Civil Service Bureau would only say the search for a suitable location was almost over.

“We are conducting further studies on the establishment of the new civil service college,” he said.

The government is likely to draw reference from overseas training programmes. It is understood officials tasked with preparing the new college have been in touch with foreign institutions, including the Singapore facility, the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and the school for Australia and New Zealand.

The Civil Service Bureau spokesman said Law had visited a number of places in the past few months to learn more about the operations of overseas training institutions and their programmes.

“The information gathered will be a useful reference for us in taking the project forward,” he said.

Leadership skills and deepening understanding of China’s development would be key tasks for the college, Lam said in her policy address last year, as well as enhancing awareness of international affairs.

Yep said there was a pressing need to improve civil servants’ knowledge of the international community and global trends.

Carrie Lam pledges to set up civil service training academy after Singapore visit

An example he gave was how the government had been promoting Islamic finance for the last decade to make the city a platform for bond offerings.

“But I’m doubtful many officials have a good grasp of Islamic finance,” Yep said.

The professor believed officials should continue sending rising stars in the government on exchange programmes with prestigious institutions in China and Western countries, for the sake of networking.</s>In an sharp deterioration of diplomatic ties, China has blocked a request for a U.S. warship to visit the post of Hong Kong, the U.S. consulate in the Chinese city said on Tuesday, amid rising tensions between Beijing and Washington over escalating tariffs and a U.S. decision to impose sanctions on China's military for engaging in military deals with Russia.

The ship, the Wasp Expeditionary Strike Group, is currently in the East China Sea, according to the WSJ which notes that Beijing's decision will affect hundreds of service members serving on board. The Wasp, which can support as many as 1,600 Marines and sailors, has been at sea since August. Its home port is in Sasebo, Japan. The amphibious assault ship Wasp was due to make a port call in the former British colony of Hong Kong in October, diplomatic sources said, however Beijing flatly denied the request.

"The Chinese Government did not approve a request for a U.S. port visit to Hong Kong by the USS Wasp,” a consulate spokeswoman said adding that "we have a long track record of successful port visits to Hong Kong, and we expect that to continue."

Earlier on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang did not directly answer a question on whether China had denied the request: "For requests for U.S. military ships to visit Hong Kong, China has always carried out approvals case by case, in accordance with the principle of sovereignty and the detailed situation,” he told reporters cryptically.

Beijing previously denied passage by U.S. military vessels in a similar expression of displeasure. In April 2016, a time of tension over the territorial disputes in the South China Sea, it refused the U.S. aircraft carrier John C. Stennis a visit to Hong Kong.

Separately, China also canceled an upcoming meeting between top naval officers from the two countries, as we reported previously following China's decision to summon the US ambassador after the US imposed sanctions on Chinese entities in retaliation for purchasing Su-35 combat aircraft and equipment for S-400 surface-to-air missile systems from Russia in late 2017 and early 2018 from Russia.

Chinese Vice Admiral Shen Jinlong was scheduled to meet in the U.S. with Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson at the International Seapower Symposium, a gathering of global naval officials in Rhode Island, according to the Journal.

"We were informed that Vice Adm. Shen Jinlong has been recalled to China and won’t conduct a visit with Adm. Richardson. We have no additional information at this time,” Pentagon spokesman and Army Lt. Col. David Eastburn told the newspaper in a statement.

China and the United States are also embroiled in an increasingly bitter trade war, which culminated this week with a decision by the Trump administration ti impose its latest round of tariffs on China earlier this month, targeting $200 billion of Chinese imports. That announcement prompted China to retaliate with tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. imports.</s>
• Amid a number of economic, geopolitical, and military disputes between China and the US, Beijing has rejected a US Navy warship's request to make a port call in Hong Kong next month.
• The amphibious assault ship USS Wasp is operating in the East China Sea.
• The rejection of the ship's port call request comes as the US and China quarrel over trade and sanctions, as well as longstanding issues like the South China Sea, the Korean Peninsula, and Taiwan.

China has refused to grant a US Navy warship permission to make a port call in Hong Kong, the local US consulate reported Tuesday, according to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.

The amphibious assault ship USS Wasp, which carries the F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, was expected to visit the former British colony next month, according to The Wall Street Journal. But Beijing has denied the US Navy's request, another sign of deteriorating ties between the US and China.

It is not uncommon for China to deny US port call requests when it is displeased with the countries' relations — as was the case in April 2016, when Beijing refused to allow the aircraft carrier USS John Stennis to visit Hong Kong amid rising tensions in the South China Sea.

Locked in an intensifying trade war, both Washington and Beijing have targeted one another with hundreds of billions of dollars in punitive trade tariffs. The US is criticizing China for economic aggression and unfair trade practices, and China perceives US actions as a clear exercise in containment, an effort by the hegemonic power to cripple the rise of a developing challenger.

The US imposed a 10% tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese products Monday, and China immediately retaliated with duties on $60 billion in American goods.

Tensions, however, extend well beyond economic exchanges and into military ties. The US sanctioned the primary procurement division of the Chinese military for purchasing Russian weapons systems in violation of sanctions, namely the advanced Su-35 fighter jet and the S-400 surface-to-air missile system. China expressed "outrage" and accused the US of trying to constrain its military power. Beijing warned that it would take "countermeasures" if the US did not "correct its mistake."

Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang summoned US Ambassador to China Terry Branstad over the sanctions. Meanwhile, China's defense ministry recalled Vice Admiral Shen Jinlong, canceling a scheduled meeting with his US counterpart, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson, Reuters reported.

Further complicating matters, the US has approved a $330 million arms deal with Taiwan that will improve the combat readiness of Taiwan's air assets. Chinese state media strongly urged the US to cancel the deal and suspend military-to-military relations with Taiwan, which Beijing considers a separatist province.

All of this comes as other longstanding issues, such as the South China Sea and the Korean Peninsula, continue to weigh heavily on the relationship between the US and China, two major powers with national interests often in conflict with one another.</s>
• New US tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports kicked in on Monday.
• China has pulled out of trade talks with the US in response and attacked the Trump administration's "trade bullyism" in a white paper.
• Asian and European markets have opened lower on Monday, with investors concerned that the trade war "may enter phase III."
• You can follow live market reactions on Markets Insider.

LONDON — European and Asian markets were lower on Monday after China said it won't negotiate with the US on trade if the Trump administration continues to threaten higher tariffs.

China published a white paper on Monday that attacked the "protectionist practices" and "trade bullyism practices of the U.S. administration," according to state-run Chinese news service Xinhua.

Beijing said that the Trump administration has "abandoned the fundamental norms of mutual respect and equal consultation that guide international relations." Bloomberg reported that the white paper stated that trade negotiations “cannot be carried out under the threat of tariffs," suggesting talks between the two sides are unlikely.

The white paper came as a fresh round of tariffs came into force against Chinese goods coming into the US. The duties on $200 billion worth of imports came into effect just after midnight on Monday morning Washington time. China has promised to respond with tariffs on $60 billion worth of US imports.

"While these actions seem to be already priced in, investors are becoming increasingly worried that the trade war may enter phase III," Hussein Sayed, the chief market strategist at trading platform FXTM, said in an email on Monday morning. "With Beijing canceling planned trade talks on Saturday and the US State Department imposing sanctions against China’s defense agency, relations between the two largest economies in the world may further deteriorate."

Markets reacted negatively to the most recent developments in the tit-for-tat trade dispute with the US and China. Stock markets in China and Japan are closed for a local holiday on Monday but Hong Kong's Hang Seng index remains open and was down by 1.66% at 8.30 a.m. BST (3.30 a.m. ET).

Negative sentiment spread to Europe, with stock indexes opening lower there too. Germany's Dax was down by 0.45%, France's CAC 40 was down by 0.25%, and Britain's FTSE 100 was down by 0.17% after around half an hour of trade in Europe.

"The implementation of President Trump's tariffs and the Chinese reaction to cancel talks in the face of the US President's decision should force investors to come to grip with reality," Konstantinos Anthis, head of research at ADSS, said in an email on Monday. "However, whether this will take a meaningful toll on the upwards trend in place or will only trigger a short-term correction remains to be seen."

Separately on Monday, Australian investment bank Macquarie said that Mexico stands to benefit the most from rising trade tensions between the US and China.</s>
• New US tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports kicked in on Monday.
• China has pulled out of trade talks with the US in response and attacked the Trump administration's "trade bullyism" in a white paper.
• Asian and European markets have opened lower on Monday, with investors concerned that the trade war "may enter phase III."
• You can follow live market reactions on Markets Insider.

LONDON — European and Asian markets were lower on Monday after China said it won't negotiate with the US on trade if the Trump administration continues to threaten higher tariffs.

China published a white paper on Monday that attacked the "protectionist practices" and "trade bullyism practices of the U.S. administration," according to state-run Chinese news service Xinhua.

Beijing said that the Trump administration has "abandoned the fundamental norms of mutual respect and equal consultation that guide international relations." Bloomberg reported that the white paper stated that trade negotiations “cannot be carried out under the threat of tariffs," suggesting talks between the two sides are unlikely.

The white paper came as a fresh round of tariffs came into force against Chinese goods coming into the US. The duties on $200 billion worth of imports came into effect just after midnight on Monday morning Washington time. China has promised to respond with tariffs on $60 billion worth of US imports.

"While these actions seem to be already priced in, investors are becoming increasingly worried that the trade war may enter phase III," Hussein Sayed, the chief market strategist at trading platform FXTM, said in an email on Monday morning. "With Beijing canceling planned trade talks on Saturday and the US State Department imposing sanctions against China’s defense agency, relations between the two largest economies in the world may further deteriorate."

Markets reacted negatively to the most recent developments in the tit-for-tat trade dispute with the US and China. Stock markets in China and Japan are closed for a local holiday on Monday but Hong Kong's Hang Seng index remains open and was down by 1.66% at 8.30 a.m. BST (3.30 a.m. ET).

Negative sentiment spread to Europe, with stock indexes opening lower there too. Germany's Dax was down by 0.45%, France's CAC 40 was down by 0.25%, and Britain's FTSE 100 was down by 0.17% after around half an hour of trade in Europe.

"The implementation of President Trump's tariffs and the Chinese reaction to cancel talks in the face of the US President's decision should force investors to come to grip with reality," Konstantinos Anthis, head of research at ADSS, said in an email on Monday. "However, whether this will take a meaningful toll on the upwards trend in place or will only trigger a short-term correction remains to be seen."

Separately on Monday, Australian investment bank Macquarie said that Mexico stands to benefit the most from rising trade tensions between the US and China.</s>WASHINGTON—The Chinese government denied a U.S. Navy ship permission for a port visit to Hong Kong next month, U.S. military officials said Monday, a decision issued as Beijing also canceled a high-level naval meeting in the U.S.

The rebuffs come as tensions burgeon between the two countries over a range of military and economic differences.</s>The withdrawal of the invitation was confirmed by the US consulate in Hong Kong

Chinese authorities had given USS Wasp, and a contingent of US marines, permission to visit but this has now been rescinded.

The withdrawal of the invitation was confirmed by the US consulate in Hong Kong.

The decision was taken in response to the US imposing sanctions on a Chinese state arms company which had been buying weapons from Russia.

China also recalled a senior naval commander, Admiral Shen Jinglong, from a US naval conference following the sanctions announcement.</s>HONG KONG (AFP) - China's premier hotpot chain Haidilao International soared as much as 10.3 per cent in early trading on its Hong Kong debut on Wednesday (Sept 26) after raising nearly US$1 billion (S$1.37 billion) in its initial public offering.

Shares opened at HK$18.80 (S$3.28), up from an IPO price of HK$17.80 which was already at the top end of its target range, and reached HK$19.64 at one point.

The Sichuan hotpot operator is known for its good customer service - a rarity in China - with queuing diners provided with snacks, tea and even manicures.

The restaurant operator said it would use proceeds from the offering to push its global expansion, repay loans and improve food safety-related technology.

The chain has run into trouble before, with a Beijing outlet under fire last year over allegations of a rat-infested kitchen and dirty dishes.

Zhang Yong, 47, founded the chain in 1994 after years working in a tractor factory in southwest Sichuan province. Zhang earned 14 million yuan (S$2.8 million) stewarding the company last year, according to a company prospectus.

The chain has kept to its roots and boiling chili pepper-laden water to cook frozen meat remains a fan favourite.

It has expanded rapidly, adding more than 30 restaurants per year since 2015.

Revenue has also jumped, with its 341 restaurants earning 647 million yuan on sales of 7.3 billion yuan for the six months ending in June.</s>China has refused to grant a US Navy warship permission to make a port call in Hong Kong, the local US consulate reported Tuesday, according to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.

The amphibious assault ship USS Wasp, which carries the F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, was expected to visit the former British colony next month, according to The Wall Street Journal. But Beijing has denied the US Navy's request, another sign of deteriorating ties between the US and China.

It is not uncommon for China to deny US port call requests when it is displeased with the countries' relations — as was the case in April 2016, when Beijing refused to allow the aircraft carrier USS John Stennis to visit Hong Kong amid rising tensions in the South China Sea.

Locked in an intensifying trade war, both Washington and Beijing have targeted one another with hundreds of billions of dollars in punitive trade tariffs. The US is criticizing China for economic aggression and unfair trade practices, and China perceives US actions as a clear exercise in containment, an effort by the hegemonic power to cripple the rise of a developing challenger.

The US imposed a 10% tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese products Monday, and China immediately retaliated with duties on $60 billion in American goods.

Tensions, however, extend well beyond economic exchanges and into military ties. The US sanctioned the primary procurement division of the Chinese military for purchasing Russian weapons systems in violation of sanctions, namely the advanced Su-35 fighter jet and the S-400 surface-to-air missile system. China expressed "outrage" and accused the US of trying to constrain its military power. Beijing warned that it would take "countermeasures" if the US did not "correct its mistake."

Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang summoned US Ambassador to China Terry Branstad over the sanctions. Meanwhile, China's defense ministry recalled Vice Admiral Shen Jinlong, canceling a scheduled meeting with his US counterpart, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson, Reuters reported.

Further complicating matters, the US has approved a $330 million arms deal with Taiwan that will improve the combat readiness of Taiwan's air assets. Chinese state media strongly urged the US to cancel the deal and suspend military-to-military relations with Taiwan, which Beijing considers a separatist province.

All of this comes as other longstanding issues, such as the South China Sea and the Korean Peninsula, continue to weigh heavily on the relationship between the US and China, two major powers with national interests often in conflict with one another.
The U.S. consulate in Hong Kong says that China denied a request for a port call to Hong Kong by the USS Wasp. China says that it handles approvals "case by case, in accordance with the principle of sovereignty".