Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) has finalised the operational model for non-Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) denominated futures and options trading and clearing services on Hong Kong public holidays.
HKEX received 55 responses from a wide range of market participants for its consultation paper, with strong support on the launch of Derivatives Holiday Trading and its proposed operational model.
HKEX will proceed with launching Derivatives Holiday Trading with the operational arrangements as proposed in April 2022 to cover the Easter holidays, subject to market readiness and regulatory approval. All MSCI futures and options will be included as the first batch of Holiday Trading Products.
HKEX President and Chief Operating Officer Calvin Tai said:
“The introduction of Derivatives Holiday Trading is a major development for Hong Kong as the region’s pre-eminent international risk management and derivatives trading centre. This is part of HKEX’s ongoing commitment to enhancing its market microstructure and derivatives product ecosystem, and we believe it will be warmly welcomed by customers around the world.”
“We would like to thank all stakeholders for their feedback to the Derivatives Holiday Trading consultation paper, and we look forward to launching this major market enhancement later this year,” Mr Tai added.
As part of the consultation conclusions, HKEX will make minor adjustments on the liquidity management arrangement on days when both Hong Kong and the United States have mutual holidays, accounting for feedback received during the consultation.
Derivatives Holiday Trading will allow international investors to trade non-HKD denominated futures and options products on Hong Kong public holidays, when the markets of their underlying securities may be open. HKEX plans to add non-HKD denominated futures and options to Derivatives Holiday Trading in batches, with the first batch being all MSCI futures and options contracts.
HKEX plans to hold a market readiness test in late February 2022 ahead of the launch of Derivatives Holiday Trading in April.