In Hong Kong there is lively debate over what to do with the city’s scandal-plagued alternative listing platform, once touted as Asia’s answer to the Nasdaq.
The Growth Enterprise Market (GEM), home not long ago to eye-watering price swings of as much as 9,800%, hasn’t seen a listing since January 2021 after notching up more than 70 just four years ago. Trading volumes last year slumped to 62% below their 2015 peak.
The market was brought to heel after a rash of scandals, culminating in the clampdown in 2019 on a group of 60 companies dubbed the "nefarious network.”