- The Exchange publishes proposals to amend Chapter 15A of the Listing Rules governing the listing of structured products
- Proposals aim to elevate market competitiveness and efficiency, whilst also enhancing market quality and investor protection
- Consultation period to last six weeks until 11 November 2025
The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the Exchange), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), today (Tuesday) published a consultation paper seeking market feedback on proposed enhancements to the listing regime for structured products (the Consultation Paper). The consultation is open for a six-week period, concluding on Tuesday, 11 November 2025.
HKEX Head of Listing, Katherine Ng, said: “Hong Kong’s vibrant securities market is supported by a diverse range of products, with structured products playing a vital role as efficient and effective tools for hedging and contributing to a comprehensive product ecosystem. As market dynamics and investor needs continue to evolve, we at HKEX remain committed to ensuring that our structured product listing framework is fit for purpose and globally competitive. We believe these proposals will foster continued product innovation and enhance market efficiency, whilst upholding our robust standards of market quality and investor protection.”
Key proposals include:
Increasing market competitiveness
- Lowering the minimum issue price requirement for derivative warrants to $0.15 from $0.25; and removing the minimum issue price requirement for callable bull/bear contracts to facilitate a wider range of product terms.
- Changing the eligibility threshold for an ETF as underlying security for structured products issuance to at least $1 billion of assets under management, from at least $4 billion of public float capitalisation, over a 60-day qualifying period.
- Requiring emulation issues to have identical product terms as existing issues.
- Expanding entitlement ratio of derivative warrants and callable bull/bear contracts with additional ratios.
- Removing prescriptive product terms requirements from the Listing Rules and requiring product issuance to be subject to permitted product terms to be published by the Exchange from time to time.
Enhancing market quality and investor protection
- Raising issuers’ minimum net asset value requirement to $5 billion from $2 billion and mandating that issuers be regulated entities.
- Mandating investment grade ratings by all credit rating agencies from which credit ratings are sought. The credit rating requirement may be fulfilled by the issuers, guarantors or their respective holding companies.
- Mandating the minimum service level for liquidity provision specified in the listing documents to comply with minimum service levels as published by the Exchange from time to time.
- Shortening the publication timeframe of interim financial reports (in respect of the first six months) by issuer and guarantor to three months after the end of the interim period.
- Mandating publication of consolidated financial statements for issuers and guarantors that have subsidiaries.
Elevating market efficiency
- Removing the requirement to publish launch announcement and streamlining listing document for further issues of structured products to reduce issuers’ administrative burden without compromising the amount of information available to investors.
- Allowing securities dealers (that are also issuers) to offer incentives subject to safeguards set out in the Listing Rules. Incentives relating to specific structured products shall be in the form of fee discounts.
The Exchange is seeking market feedback on its proposals and the proposed Listing Rules amendments to implement them. The public comment period ends on Tuesday, 11 November 2025. Interested parties are encouraged to respond to the Consultation Paper by completing and submitting a questionnaire on the HKEX website.
For more information about the latest development of HKEX’s structured product market, listen to the latest HKEXVoice podcast.
To further support investor understanding of structured products, HKEX has recently published four thematic investor education videos on its website.
About HKEX
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) is a publicly-traded company (HKEX Stock Code: 388) and one of the world’s leading global exchange groups, offering a range of equity, derivative, commodity, fixed income and other financial markets, products and services, including the London Metal Exchange.
As a superconnector and gateway between East and West, HKEX facilitates the two-way flow of capital, ideas and dialogue between China and the rest of the world, through its pioneering Connect schemes, increasingly diversified product ecosystem and its deep, liquid and international markets.
HKEX is a purpose-led organisation which, across its business and through the work of HKEX Foundation, seeks to connect, promote and progress its markets and the communities it supports for the prosperity of all.
www.hkexgroup.com
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