Jersey companies have been approved for listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The move is a significant development for Jersey’s finance industry, which is seeking to increase business flows from the Asia Pacific region.

The formal inclusion of Jersey companies on the Hong Kong Exchange’s approved list of companies able to float on its exchange is the result of more than a year’s negotiation, research and document preparation involving government officials in Jersey, representatives from Jersey Finance and the finance industry.

The approval enables Jersey’s finance industry to compete on an equal footing with other competitor jurisdictions, which have been established longer in Asia. Jersey has achieved this recognition ahead of some of its closest competitors including Guernsey and the Isle of Man.

Robert Kirkby, technical director, Jersey Finance, says: “Gaining access to a major capital market such as Hong Kong is further excellent news for Jersey and is a step forward in our ability to attract new business from the region. The move by the Exchange authorities adds weight to Jersey’s reputation as a rigorously supervised, highly regarded jurisdiction and also demonstrates how the market in Asia views the quality and robustness of Jersey company law. Moreover it gives further impetus to the formal opening of our second overseas office in Hong Kong later this month and is very welcome news.”

The approval success came as a result of two concurrent applications to the Hong Kong Exchange. In the first, Jersey Finance has worked with Carey Olsen together with Hong Kong law firm Stephenson Harwood & Lo on the application in principle for the flotation of Jersey companies on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In the second, Ogier acted for an existing Jersey company, which sought a pre-IPO ruling, which was given by the exchange on the same day and which has recently been published on the exchange's website.