A NEW agreement should make it easier to list Jersey companies on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Talks between the Jersey and Hong Kong authorities took place last week and the new simplified listing arrangements are expected to be finalised over the next few months. The visit to China also took in Beijing and Shanghai.

The Jersey party included the director of finance at the Chief Minister’s office, Martin de Forest Brown, and the director general of the Jersey Financial Services Commission, John Harris, together with Robert Kirkby, technical director at Jersey Finance, and several Jersey lawyers.

In Hong Kong they also met the tax authorities and discussed the possibility of double tax arrangements, exchange agreements and the impact of the European Union savings tax directive. Other notable meetings took place with the China Banking Regulatory Authority — which employs around 23,000 staff — and the China Securities Regulatory Commission.