Renovated Trading Hall Opens
Corporate
16 Jan 2006
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) today (Monday) held a ceremony to mark the opening of the renovated Trading Hall. The event was hosted by HKEx Chairman, Charles Lee and HKEx Chief Executive, Paul Chow, and attended by Financial Secretary, Henry Tang, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Frederick Ma and Securities and Futures Commission Chairman, Martin Wheatley, and other guests.
A fact sheet of the renovated Trading Hall is attached.
Trading Hall Fact Sheet
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After Renovation (as of 16 Jan 2006 ) |
Before Renovation in 2005 |
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Trading area |
12,200 sq ft (includes media area and booths) |
26,000 sq ft |
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Trading facilities |
294 dealing desks* with separate ergonomically designed chairs. Each dealing desk can accommodate up to two chairs. Included in the total are four backup desks, four for Internet access and five vacant ones.
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906 trading booths with bench seats. Each booth can accommodate two traders. Included in the total are 20 backup booths and 166 vacant ones.
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Centre market information display panel |
- Cylindrical shape
- Full colour display with graphics, 2-D and 3-D animation, video
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- Four-sided
- Tri-colour display with graphics, 2-D animation
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Media facilities |
One media area for use by all news providers. Three media booths assigned to three electronic media organisations under agreements with HKEx.
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None. |
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Other new or upgraded facilities |
Dealing desks, chairs, raised floor, lighting, air handling units, power cabling, fire safety equipment and toilet facilities. Dealing desk computer monitors, keyboards, printers and telephones. Also, a 40-metre-long ticker tape-style electronic display panel has been installed along the glass wall. |
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* Desks assigned by drawing of lots.
Key dates
- 2 April 1986 – The first day of business for both The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, which was formed by merger of four stock exchanges, and the newly built Trading Hall.
- 6 October 1986 – The Stock Exchange’s official grand opening in the Trading Hall.
- 1 November 1993 – Introduction of the Automatic Order Matching and Execution System (AMS), the Stock Exchange’s first electronic order matching system (orders had to be entered through terminals in the Trading Hall).
- 25 January 1996 – Introduction of off-floor trading terminals for AMS.
- 15 July 2005 – Last day of trading in Trading Hall before renovation.
- 18 July 2005 – Trading continues in section of Trading Hall to be renovated later.
- 16 January 2006 – Trading begins in renovated section of Trading Hall. Further renovations, involving the Exchange Exhibition Hall, are expected to be completed in the second quarter of the year.
Additional information is available in recent editions of the HKEx newsletter (see http://www.hkex.com.hk/eng/newsconsul/newsltr/2005/pages/2005.aspx on the HKEx website) and the “Hong Kong stock market historical events” section of HKEx Fact Book 2004 (see http://www.hkex.com.hk/eng/stat/statrpt/factbook2004/e/30.pdf on the HKEx website).