Retail investors in Hong Kong are borrowing a total of more than $353 billion in margin loans to try their hand in initial public offerings in the city, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday.
The figure is enough to pay every Hongkonger about $50,000, the report said.
The loans are nearly interest-free, attracting attention from regulators who might be concerned investors could crash and burn with their speculatory behavior, the report said.
Hong Kong is already investigating eight brokers with the highest oversubscription in their IPOs, the report said, citing remarks by Securities and Futures Commission Chief Executive Officer Julia Leung in February.
Last week, retail investors sought HK$1.8 trillion, or $237 billion in nearly interest-free loans, to invest in Mixue's (HKG:2097) IPO, the report said.
Shares were oversubscribed more than 5,300 times, a record bid for an IPO in Hong Kong, the report said.
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