- Consultation on the regulation of sponsors and financial advisors
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HKEx plans to consult the market in the first quarter of 2003. |
A consultation paper will be published in May 2003 inviting public comment on proposals for a uniform sponsor regime for the Main Board and GEM. |
- Review of practices on dissemination of listed issuers' announcements
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HKEx is finalising its position and expects to announce the consultation results and overall implementation plan in the first quarter of 2003. |
HKEx remains committed to revising practices for the dissemination of regulatory information. A further announcement will be made in the second quarter of 2003. |
- Exploration of new financial products and review of existing products
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HKEx is exploring the business viability of introducing the following financial products:
- Capital protection products in the securities market
- Interest rate swap futures
- Flexible options on Hong Kong stocks and indices
- Cash settled Exchange Fund Note futures
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Capital Protected Instruments
HKEx is discussing viable structures for the introduction of capital protected instruments on the Stock Exchange with regulators and market participants.
Interest Rate Swap Futures
HKEx is liaising with the compiling agent and market participants on the development of a widely accepted market benchmark for an Interest Rate Swap futures contract.
Flexible Options
As an alternative to flexible options on Hong Kong stocks, a proposal on narrowing the strike intervals for selected stock option classes is being studied and HKEx is consulting market participants on the proposal.
Cash settled Exchange Fund Note futures
HKEx plans to further consult the Hong Kong Monetary Authority on the introduction of a cash settled Exchange Fund Note futures contract in the fourth quarter of 2003.
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- Introduction of S&P/HKEx index series
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HKEx plans to launch the index series in the first half of 2003. |
Real-time calculation of the S&P/HKEx LargeCap and S&P/HKEx GEM indices began on 3 March 2003.
The remaining indices in the series, the S&P/HKEx MidCap, S&P/HKEx SmallCap and S&P/HKEx Composite indices are scheduled to be launched later in the year. |
- Consultation on reducing board lot size and narrowing minimum spreads
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HKEx plans to consult the market in the first half of 2003. |
HKEx plans to consult the market in the second quarter of this year as part of its continuous efforts to lower trading costs, increase liquidity and further improve market efficiency. |
- Introduction of Cbroker facility
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HKEx is exploring a facility to enable convenient local access to other markets. |
A survey on broker demand for such a facility is being conducted; HKEx is also requesting information from potential service providers for the CBroker service. |
- Enhancement of IP accounts
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Not mentioned in this report. |
The operational model for an enhanced IP Account service is under consideration and subject to further review and discussion with market intermediaries and regulators. |
- Upgrade of Central Clearing and Settlement System (CCASS/3)
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HKEx successfully launched the second phase of CCASS/3 on 9 December 2002. The third and final phase of CCASS/3 implementation is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2003 with the introduction of the Participant Gateway. |
Subject to completion of the test programme, CCASS/3 Phase 3 (Participant Gateway rollout) will be launched in May 2003. |
- Integration of derivatives clearing
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To allow more time for participants to familiarise themselves with the next upgrade of HKATS prior to the launch of DCASS, the launch of DCASS has been rescheduled for the last quarter of 2003. |
The DCASS project is progressing in accordance with the revised schedule. |
- Upgrade of HKATS to
OM 17.1
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HKATS will be upgraded to OM 17.1 in the third quarter of 2003. |
Testing of OM 17.1 software has begun. |
- Third Party Clearing (TPC)
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The detailed operation model for TPC is expected to be finalised in the first quarter of 2003. |
The operating model and implementation timetable is being finalised to take further market feedback into account. In parallel, HKEx will assess more carefully likely market response to Third Party Clearing, especially the response from small brokerages. |