US joins China in reining in Big Tech excesses
US tech companies to face stiff new competition rules under Biden exec order: President Joe Biden signed on Friday a sweeping executive order aimed at limiting the anti-competitive practices of giant technology companies. Among the order’s goals are preventing so-called “killer acquisitions” designed to shut down competition, creating new regulations to lessen internet surveillance and data harvesting, and rules to protect small businesses.
The tech industry isn’t thrilled: “Elements of this executive order threaten our global leadership and hard-won success,” said Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Technology Association that includes Apple, Facebook and Google.
Chinese firms face new tests before listing abroad: China’s government will conduct regulatory screening of firms with more than 1 mn users before they are allowed to IPO abroad, in a new blow to the Chinese tech industry, the Financial Times reports. The announcement, which may stymie some of the biggest listings in the global financial markets, comes days after China launched a security probe into ride-hailing giant Didi for alleged data security breaches, following the company's USD 4.4 bn IPO on the Nasdaq — the biggest Chinese IPO in the US since 2014. The probe triggered a sell-off of Didi’s shares which lost almost one-fifth of its market value.
Chinese fitness app Keep has already called off plans to file for an IPO in the US on the sweeping announcement and as Didi’s fallout spreads, the Financial Times reports. Alibaba-backed medical data group LinkDoc Technology has also suspended its Nasdaq IPO plans after it was due to price its shares on Thursday, three unnamed sources told Reuters. Chinese podcast platform Ximalaya has also scrapped plans to list on the US stock market, with one industry expert telling the FT that the pipeline of listings could soon grind to a halt.
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THE CLOSING BELL-
The EGX30 fell 0.9% on Thursday on turnover of EGP 1.23 bn (0% above the 90-day average). Regional investors were net sellers. The index is down 6.1% YTD.
In the green: Palm Hills Development (+3.1%), Sidi Kerir Petrochemicals (+1.4%) and CIB (+0.3%).
In the red: Fawry (-4.6%), Pioneers Holding (-2.6%) and Cleopatra Hospital (-2.5%).