Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited's (HKEx) Board of Directors has approved a scheme that will enable Stock Exchange Participants (EPs) to increase the order throughput or throttle rate of their Open Gateways (OGs) to AMS/3, the Third Generation Automatic Order Matching and Execution System, on a user-pays basis. EPs will also be able to install additional OGs at their own cost. At present EPs are limited to one OG per trading right, and an OG throttle rate of one order per second

Under the scheme, EPs will be able to increase their OG throttle rate in integral multiples of one order per second. The charges comprise a one-off charge of $100,000 for each additional one order per second OG throttle rate, an additional monthly circuit fee of $1,200 per additional one order per second OG throttle rate and a one-off circuit upgrade charge of $2,500 for each circuit with an increased throttle rate, irrespective of the additional OG throttle rate. The current monthly user fee for an OG will remain unchanged.

HKEx believes offering increased OG throttle rates will help improve the operational efficiency of EPs.

The scheme is expected to be introduced in the second half of this year, subject to the approval of the Securities and Futures Commission.

"This scheme will meet the growing demand for higher throttle rates, it will help maximise market liquidity and it will support the further development of our market," said Lawrence Fok, HKEx's Deputy Chief Operating Officer.