Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) issued the following statement in response to media enquiries about today's budget speech by Hong Kong's Financial Secretary.

HKEx welcomes the proposals in the Government budget for the April 2010-to-March 2011 fiscal year aimed at further strengthening the competitiveness of Hong Kong's financial services industry. 

"The budget proposals related to financial services will help reduce trading costs of some of the products listed on our Exchange and help Hong Kong maintain its position as a leading international financial centre," said HKEx Chairman Ronald Arculli.

"Extending the waiver of stamp duty on the trading of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) with no Hong Kong stocks in their portfolios to include ETFs that track indices comprising not more than 40 per cent of Hong Kong stocks will encourage the further development and diversification of our ETF market," Mr Arculli said.

"Proposals announced today will provide new support for our city's bond market and fund management industry, and market liquidity in general," Mr Arculli added.