Chinese companies like Alibaba and Tencent use 'VIE' structures to list on foreign exchanges like the NYSE. But these structures are inherently risky.
There’s a pretty simple idea behind buying shares: Do so, and you end up owning some part — however small — of a company. As ever, in China things are not always so straightforward.
Invest in a Chinese company listed on the New York Stock Exchange or any other foreign market — as millions of people do via their pension funds and other products — and the chances are you’re exposed to a variable interest entity, or VIE-structure. Chinese companies like tech giants Alibaba and Tencen
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