China Unicom’s U.S. delisting takes effect Holders can exchange for Hong Kong-listed shares

China Unicom, a Chinese telecommunications service provider, will file a form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to deregister its U.S. depositary securities under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act, according to a news release from Reuters citing the company on May 28.

“China Unicom said in a statement Friday that its reporting obligations will also terminate immediately upon the filing of the relevant deregistration form.

The NYSE initiated delisting proceedings against China’s three largest telecom operators, China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom, under a ban issued by the Trump administration last year. The three companies subsequently filed unsuccessful motions for review. All three companies subsequently filed unsuccessful motions to review the ban and were required to delist from the United States.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Jeffrey Starkes warned last month that many Chinese telecom service providers also operate information processing centers in the United States, but the commission currently lacks the authority to deal with this threat to U.S. national security. China Unicom International has been providing international telecommunications services in the U.S. for 20 years, and China Telecom Group, another of China’s largest state-owned telecommunications companies, has also been in the U.S. for nearly 20 years.

As of the end of April this year, China Unicom had issued about 5 million depositary receipts in the U.S., accounting for about 0.2 percent of the company’s total shares outstanding, according to the data. According to the report, holders of ADSs can now exchange them for China Unicom’s Hong Kong-listed common stock at a ratio of one share for 10 shares.