Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) announced today (Wednesday) that two additional December contract months (December 2014 and December 2015) of HSI1 and HSCEI2 Dividend Point Index futures (Dividend Futures) will become available for trading from Monday, 12 September.
The three existing market makers for Dividend Futures will be required to provide bid-ask quotes on all available contract months, including these new contract months, in line with the current market making obligations3.
HKEx introduced its Dividend Futures in November of last year to meet the market demand for exchange-traded derivatives that can be used to hedge and manage dividend exposure while providing the benefits of transparent pricing, standardised product specifications, centralised clearing and low trading fees.
The addition of the new December contract months will offer market participants more choices on the contract term and enable them to manage longer term dividend exposure.
HSI Dividend Point Index futures had record high open interest of 5,644 contracts on 2 August this year and open interest in HSCEI Dividend Point Index futures rose to an all-time high of 7,588 contracts on 29 August this year.
For additional information, please see the related news release and the Dividend Futures section of the HKEx website.