Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing
Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Limited operates a securities market and a derivatives market and the clearing houses for those markets. Listed in 2000, it is one of the world’s largest exchange owners based on its shares market capitalisation.
Financial Services & the Treasury
The Financial Services & the Treasury Bureau works closely with market regulators and participants to strengthen Hong Kong's role as an international financial centre. The Treasury formulates and implements policies and procedures to ensure effective control and management of public revenues and expenditure.
Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Prof KC Chan says the Government and the Securities & Futures Commission will monitor the development of 'dark pools' in Hong Kong and other major markets.
Prof Chan said the emergence of dark pools has raised concern over the lack of transparency which can create a two-tiered market that deprives the public of information about trades and liquidity in dark pools.
He said the commission has been participating in international discussions on regulatory issues related to dark liquidity. The US and the EU are reviewing their regulatory framework for dark pools in relation to transparency.
There are 13 dark pools operating in Hong Kong and are mainly brokers or banks’ internal crossing engine whereby their customers’ orders will be channelled to the internal pool for matching. Trades conducted in these dark pools are required to be reported to Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing which provides post-trade transparency through its market data system.
Prof Chan said HKEx has imposed a set of order-entry rules that restrict orders being placed far away from the current market, to prevent the occurrence of a 'flash crash' similar to the one in the US last May when the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 700 points in a few minutes.
