Hong Kong stock exchange to slash IPO price-to-trading gap in 2020

It is the first time the exchange has given specific details about its plans, having previously said only that it was considering changes to the settlement process

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange hopes to slash the time between pricing an IPO and the shares trading to a single day as early as late 2020, bringing the bourse into line with rivals such as New York, a senior executive told Reuters.

Investors and investment bankers complain that Hong Kong's current initial public offering (IPO) settlement of five trading days leaves them exposed to market falls between the shares pricing and trading. It also makes it harder for the city to compete for IPOs with rival exchanges such as New York.

Christina Bao, head of global issuer services at