HK list of Malaysia Top Glove delayed by US ban: report | Business and Economic News

The U.S. banned the world’s largest rubber glove products because of concerns about forced and forced labor, Reuters reported.

Top Glove Corporation is listed in Hong Kong and has delayed its intention to raise $ 1 billion in money as the world’s largest rubber glove manufacturer seeks to resolve a ban on imports of its products into the U.S., sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The Malaysian company, which is listed on Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, said in late April that it would sell 793.5 million shares on the list, half of what the company had proposed in a February Hong Kong stock exchange.

However, the deal has been stalled as companies await signs of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to determine whether the import ban will be lifted soon, sources told Reuters.

Potential investors asked Top Glove and its advisers at the first meetings before the list of sanctions, they said.

Sources expected Top Glove to complete the list by the end of the second quarter in 2021.

Top Glove did not respond to a request for comment. Sources could not be named because the information has not yet been made public.

Forced labor

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) last year banned the import of Top Glove products, saying the company found reasonable evidence indicative of forced labor practices at production facilities across Malaysia.

Customs said in March it had found evidence of multiple indicators of forced labor in the Top Glove production process, including debt bondage, overtime, excessive working conditions and storage of living conditions and identity documents, and asked its officials to seize goods from the manufacturer.

The North American market accounts for 22% of Top Glove’s total sales volume according to its latest accounts.

Analysts largely kept the company’s profit forecasts intact and said the diversion of trade to other markets could soften the impact of loss of sales in the U.S. market as the pandemic progressed.

CBP responded by e-mail to Reuters that the length of the review process varies depending on the facts and situation in each case.

“CBP will not change or cancel the finding of the forced labor until all the forced labor indicators identified by the agency have been fully resolved until the forced labor is proven to produce the target goods,” he said. .

Top Glove said in April that it had resolved all indicators of forced labor in its operations and that this had been verified by London’s ethical trade adviser Impactt Limited.

The company said Hong Kong’s listing is not urgent, as it has 2.366 billion ringgit ($ 573.09 million) in balance on the balance sheet, sources said.

Instead, it is taking advantage of a share price to diversify the company’s shareholder base and increase liquidity in the Hong Kong markets compared to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, added one source.