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  • Hong Kong Ascends to Top of Global IPO Rankings: Unprecedented Surge Sets Firm Foundation for 2026

    Hong Kong Ascends to Top of Global IPO Rankings: Unprecedented Surge Sets Firm Foundation for 2026

    Hong Kong has made a strong comeback as the global leader in Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) for the first time since 2019. This resurgence comes on the heels of a record number of A+H listings and a robust pipeline of over 300 applicants. This return to form positions Hong Kong to maintain its momentum in the capital markets through 2026, according to the most recent market review by KPMG.

    Global IPO Market Trends

    According to KPMG, global IPO markets garnered $158.4 billion across 1,227 deals in 2025, which is an 18 percent increase in total funds raised. Interestingly, this was achieved despite a four percent decrease in the volume of deals made.

    Hong Kong managed to outperform all other markets, surpassing the US exchanges and reclaiming its traditionally held leadership position in the global fundraising arena. Paul Lau, partner and head of capital markets and professional practice at KPMG in China, emphasizes that it was the threefold rise in funds raised by Hong Kong that played a significant role in the global market’s recovery.

    A+H Listings: The Key Driver of Record Performance

    A remarkable 17 A+H listings were completed in Hong Kong in 2025, the highest ever recorded, accounting for half of the city’s total IPO proceeds. This even included the largest global IPO of the year, in which the world’s top EV battery manufacturer raised HK$41.0 billion.

    KPMG credits this momentum to supportive government policies and recent mega-listings that bolstered market confidence. This surge underlines Hong Kong’s strategic role in linking domestic and international capital.

    Expansion of Biotech and Technology Pipelines

    Several reforms in the city’s listing regulations, including the Technology Enterprises Channel and confidential filing for biotech and specialist technology issuers, have played a key role in stimulating market activity. The number of pre-revenue biotech firms listed under Chapter 18A increased from four to 14 in 2025. There were also three specialist technology companies listed under Chapter 18C. These easier pathways for listing reinforce Hong Kong’s determination to establish itself as an international hub for high-growth industries.

    Promising Signs for 2026

    As of December 7, 2025, the IPO pipeline in Hong Kong had reached an unprecedented 316 active applications. This represents a 267 percent increase from the end of 2024. KPMG suggests that the broad and deep pipeline provides a solid foundation for a strong start to 2026.

    Regulatory Enhancements: Boosting Market Attractiveness

    Regulators in Hong Kong are contemplating updates to the weighted voting rights system. Proposed changes include lower market capitalization thresholds, revised eligibility definitions, and adjusted voting power limits. These policy revisions aim to broaden access to WVR structures while maintaining investor protections.

    Hong Kong’s Resurgence as a Global Capital Gateway

    KPMG suggests that the resurgence of Hong Kong is a testament to the resilience of its capital markets and the city’s renewed attractiveness to technology, biotech, and foreign issuers. Louis Lau, head of Hong Kong capital markets group at KPMG in China, notes that the growing participation of global investors and the expansion of new-economy listings reinforce Hong Kong’s status as a preferred gateway to Chinese assets.

    With strong policy support, demand from issuers, and investor interest, the year 2026 is anticipated to mark a significant milestone in the evolution of the market.

    Questions & Answers

    What has contributed to Hong Kong’s return to the top of global IPO rankings?
    Hong Kong’s return to the top of global IPO rankings has been primarily driven by a record number of A+H listings and a robust pipeline of over 300 applicants.

    What are some key regulatory enhancements considered by Hong Kong regulators?
    Hong Kong regulators are contemplating updates to the weighted voting rights system that include lower market capitalization thresholds, revised eligibility definitions, and adjusted voting power limits.

    What role is Hong Kong expected to play in 2026?
    With strong policy support, demand from issuers, and investor interest, Hong Kong is anticipated to continue its leadership in the global capital markets, positioning it as a preferred gateway to Chinese assets.

  • H&M Foundation opens Global Change Award for innovation

    H&M Foundation opens Global Change Award for innovation

    Non-profit H&M Foundation has opened the fifth round of its innovation challenge Global Change Award.

    The award is an attempt to move the needle in a space where global consumption of textiles and shoes are on track to increase by 65 percent on 2015 levels by 2030. Organizers believe that creativity and innovation can flip the numbers in the planet’s favor and help enable great transformations in the fashion industry.

    The Global Change Award was initiated in 2015 by the H&M Foundation in collaboration with Accenture and KTH Royal Institute of Technology. It has received more than 14,000 entries from 182 countries. Named the Nobel Prize of fashion, it aims to reduce fashion’s impact on the planet and our living conditions by helping groundbreaking ideas move from tissue-sketch to market.

    Several of the previous winners have on-going co-operations and pilot projects with the industry, and some are already on the market.

    “In its fifth year, the Global Change Award has proven a great gateway for innovators to enter the fashion industry and transform it from the inside,” said H&M Foundation board member and H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB CEO Karl-Johan Persson.

    “We’ve seen previous winners move from sketching table to market – but more importantly, inspiring a new generation of creatives, scientists and entrepreneurs to reduce the planetary impact of the fashion industry through innovation. The next big idea that will change the game can come from anyone anywhere. So, if you have an idea you believe in this is the place to go.”

    Perhaps more important than the €1 million grant, the five winners will embark on a one-year Innovation Accelerator Program taking them to Stockholm, New York, and Hong Kong. In the accelerator, H&M Foundation, Accenture and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology support the winners in taking their ideas to the next level, with guidance on how to scale up quickly and maximize their impact on the industry.

    “This year, we are especially looking for innovations that make it easier for us as consumers to act more sustainably, ideas that use technology and data that make the fashion industry smarter and solutions that facilitate design with a circular intention,” said H&M Foundation innovation lead Erik Bang.

    To win, the innovation should have the potential to make fashion circular and to scale. Other criteria are a novelty, that the idea is economically sustainable, and that the innovation team is committed to making a difference. H&M Foundation initiated the challenge to find innovations that allow major change for the entire industry, and the winner can collaborate with whoever they want. Neither the non-profit H&M Foundation nor H&M Group takes any equity or intellectual property rights in the innovations.

    Submission deadline is October 16, and the five winners are crowned at the Grand Award Ceremony in Stockholm City Hall in April 2020.

    The H&M Foundation was set up by Persson and his family as an independent organization. While it bears the H&M name it is not part of H&M.

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  • AEON Thailand Foundation donation proceeded

    AEON Thailand Foundation donation proceeded

    Last week, Mr.Kiyoyasu Asanuma (4th from left), Chairman of AEON Thailand Foundation, and Ms.Suporn Wattanavekin (3rd from left), Vice Chairman of AEON Thailand Foundation, together with Mr. Nuntawat Chotvijit (2nd from left), Director of Marketing, AEON Thana Sinsap (Thailand) Public Company Limited and Mr.Veerawat Ariyaviriyanant (left), President & CEO of Data Products Toppan Forms Ltd. donated 1,000,000 Baht from the “AEON Charity Bowling Competition You are a HERO” to Ramathibodi Foundation in support of “New Innovation for treatment of cancer ” program. The donation was received on behalf of the foundation by Prof. Dr. Suradej Hongeng (4th from right), Executive Director of Ramathibodi Foundation and the research team from the Ramathibodi Hospital.

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  • Cebu Pacific collects donation for sick children

    Cebu Pacific collects donation for sick children

    Low-cost airline Cebu Pacific strengthens its partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund to reach millions of undernourished children in the country.

    The endeavor is a part of the global organization’s Change for Good program which accepts contributions from passengers on board flights of partner airlines.

    Proceeds contribute to the UN children’s agency’s First 1,000 Days campaign which provides optimal nutrition, from a mother’s pregnancy to a child’s second year of life.

    Since July 1, 2016, Cebu Pacific began accepting contributions of all currencies from passengers. The contributions are being used to fund nutritional supplements distributed to poor households with pregnant mothers or malnourished children. A portion of the funds also support barangay-level information drives on nutrition in Unicef’s focus areas in Northern Samar, Zamboanga and Maguindanao.

    “We are very pleased with how warmly our passengers are receiving the Change for Good Program. Thank you for sharing in our vision of a better future for our children and in Unicef’s advocacy of uplifting lives through the First 1,000 Days campaign,” says Cebu Pacific president and chief executive Lance Gokongwei.

    “Children have the right to survive and thrive. It is important for all of us to pitch in and lift each other up, so that every Filipino child grows up happy and healthy. Your continued support to UNICEF will help make this happen,” says Unicef Philippines representative Lotta Sylwander.

    Sylwander explains the transformative impact of these small acts of generosity. “The nutrition received by children from the womb to their second birthday is crucial for their physical and intellectual development. If these children are able to grow to their full extent, they perform better in school and eventually get better jobs as adults.” A healthy and productive workforce, Sylwander says, is key to nation-building.

    In the Philippines, around four million Filipino children are “stunted.” These children are undernourished, causing irreversible damage to their health, physical growth and brain development.

    The global program Change for Good targets these children by cashing in donations for life-saving materials and services for vulnerable children in more than 150 countries.

    Cebu Pacific has piloted the program in the East Asia and the Pacific region and focuses its collection efforts exclusively to Unicef Philippines’ First 1000 Days program.

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