11
of their balance sheet. See Table G attached. The data shows that
most of the activity is short-term interbank. No country analysis is
available.
2.16
Overall Hong Kong has built up a large lead over Singapore in international banking activity but it is clear that this is largely based on the fairly narrow base of its interaction with Japan.
Equities Markets
2.17 Both Hong Kong and Singapore have highly active equities markets, on which local firms have raised substantial capital over the years. However, neither has been tapped extensively by foreign companies. As of end-1990 (see Table H below), whereas 22% of all listed companies in London were foreign, in Hong Kong the proportion was only 5% and for Singapore 13%. It is also interesting to note that of the new listings during 1990, 38% of those in Singapore were foreign companies compared with 24% in London and 12% in Hong Kong. Although these proportions represent rather small numbers of new listings (eg 24 in Singapore, 17 in Hong Kong), it perhaps suggests that Singapore's stock exchange is beginning to enjoy relatively faster internationalisation than is Hong Kong.
Table H: International Stock Market Comparisons For 1990
Source: Stock Exchange Quarterly, Winter 1991
Outstanding Listings, end-1990
Domestic
Foreign
Total
% share of foreign companies
Hong Kong Singapore
284
15
299
5
153
22
175
13
London
2006
553
2559
22
NASDAQ
3875
256
4131
6
Tokyo
1627
125
1752
7
New Listings During 1990
Hong Kong Singapore
15
15
29
17
12
24
37
London
120
38
158
24
NASDAQ
132
2
Tokyo
33
27
134
2
7
40
18