Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) welcomes the publication of six research reports by the Financial Services Development Council (FSDC) that aims to strengthen Hong Kong's position as the preeminent international financial centre in Asia and enhance the further development of the local financial services industry.
HKEx notes the FSDC's recommendations to develop a broader and deeper array of asset classes in the Hong Kong market and attract companies from different jurisdictions to list on Hong Kong's stock exchange.
"We agree with the recommendations which validate our goal of transforming HKEx into a leading global vertically-integrated and multi-asset class exchange outlined in our Strategic Plan for 2013-2015 which was set out in the beginning of the year," HKEx Chief Executive Charles Li said. "We look forward to collaborating with the FSDC to reinforce the position of Hong Kong as a premier international financial market."
Besides developing its fixed income, currency and commodity businesses, HKEx has been working to attract more overseas companies to list in Hong Kong. In September this year, HKEx and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) published a revised Joint Policy Statement (revised JPS) regarding the listing of overseas companies to replace the JPS issued in March 2007. The objective of the revised JPS is to promote transparency in the listing process, provide regulatory certainty for overseas companies seeking either primary or secondary listings in Hong Kong, and maintain the quality of Hong Kong's financial market, which is recognised for its high standards of regulation, investor protection and corporate governance.
HKEx has also been striving to strengthen Hong Kong's status as the premier offshore Renminbi (RMB) centre. So far, 101 RMB-denominated products have listed on HKEx's securities and derivatives markets. HKEx's RMB Currency Futures product has seen steady growth since its introduction in September 2012, with open interest reaching a record high of 14,105 contracts on 13 November 2013. HKEx has considered and continues to assess market demand for the trading of RMB Futures against multiple currencies.
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