The Hong Kong Stock Exchange (SEHK) is a stock exchange located in Hong Kong. It is Asia's third largest stock exchange in terms of market capitalization behind the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and the sixth largest in the world. As of 30 November 2011, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange had 1,477 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of HK$16.985 trillion.^[2] Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing is the holding company for the exchange.

History[link]

Hong Kong Exchange Trade Lobby

The history of the securities exchange began formally in the late 19th century with the first establishment in 1891, though informal securities exchanges are known to have been in existence since 1861.^[3] The exchange has predominantly been the main exchange for Hong Kong despite co-existing with other exchanges at different points in time. After a series of complex mergers and acquisitions, in the twenty first century, HKSE remains the core. From 1947 to 1969 the exchange monopolised the Hong Kong market.

Brief chronology[link]

• On 2 April 1986: a new trading hall is opened. At that time, a total of 249 companies were listed on the Exchange, total market capitalisation was HK$245 billion
• 6 October 1986: Stock Exchange grand opening
• October 1987: The Stock Exchange is closed for four days in an attempt to stop losses during Black Monday global equities market crash
• May 1988: The Ian Hay Davison Report, commissioned to investigate practices on the exchange in the lead-up to its closure, is released, resulting in significant market reforms - although many took years to finally implement
• On 24 June 1992, the Central Clearing and Settlement System (CCASS) is introduced
• On 15 July 1993, in the Tsingtao Brewery became the first Chinese enterprise to list its H shares on the exchange.
• On 1 November 1993, a new "Automatic Order Matching and Execution System", AMS/1, was introduced on the exchange; later, in January 1996, the second phase AMS/2 was introduced, becoming the basis of off-floor trading.
• On 12 November 1999, the Tracker Fund of Hong Kong, created by government intervention during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, had its introduction on the exchange.
• 25 November 1999, two companies were jointly listed on the newly created Growth Enterprise Market (GEM)
• On 6 March 2000, The Stock Exchange, Futures Exchange and the Hong Kong Securities Clearing Company all became wholly owned subsidiaries of HKEx, which was in turn listed on 27 June 2000.
• On 23 October 2000, AMS/3 was implemented on the exchange.

source: HK Ex^[4]

Exchange history and predecessors[link]

Association of Stockbrokers in Hong Kong (Founded 1891)
(1914) Renamed to Hong Kong Stock Exchange
(1947) A merger is made after World War II with Hong Kong Stock Exchange retaining the name		Hong Kong Stockbrokers Association (Founded 1921)
Hong Kong Stockholders Association Ltd (Founded 1978) allow info sharing between HKSE and other exchanges		Far East Exchange Ltd (Founded 1969)		Kam Ngan Stock Exchange Ltd (Founded 1971)		Kowloon Stock Exchange Ltd (Founded 1972)
(1986) HKSE merges with other exchanges and retain the name but also presented as Stock Exchange of Hong Kong
(2000) Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing becomes the holding company for Hong Kong Stock Exchange		Hong Kong Futures Exchange Ltd (Founded 1976)		Hong Kong Securities Clearing Company Ltd (Founded 1989)

Trading hours[link]

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev with exchange Chairman Ronald Arculli during a visit to Hong Kong on 17 April 2011.

The trading day consists of:

• A pre-opening auction session from 9:00 am to 9:30 am. The opening price of a security is reported shortly after 9:20 am.^[5]
• A morning continuous trading session from 09:30 am to 12:00 pm^[5]
• An extended morning session from 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm, also referred to as the lunch break.^[5][6] Continuous trading proceeds in specifically-designated securities (currently two ETFs, 4362 and 4363). Trading in other securities is not possible. However, previously-placed orders in any securities can be cancelled from 1:00 pm onwards.^[7]
• An afternoon continuous trading session from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm^[5]

The closing price is reported as the median of five price snapshots taken from 3:59 to 4:00 pm every 15 seconds.^[8] In May 2008, the exchange also implemented a closing auction session to run from 4:00 pm to 4:10 pm, with a similar pricing mechanism as the opening auction; however, this resulted in significant fluctuations in the closing prices of stocks and suspicions of market manipulation. Initially, the exchange proposed limiting price fluctuations in the auction sessions to 2%; in the end, they removed the closing session entirely in March 2009.^[9]

Up until 2011, trading hours comprised a pre-opening auction from 9:30 AM to 9:50 AM, followed by continuous trading from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM and 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM. The two-hour lunch break between the morning and afternoon sessions was the longest among the world's 20 major stock exchanges. A 2003 proposal to shorten the lunch break failed due to opposition from brokers. Another plan to shorten the lunch break to one hour was floated by the exchange in 2010; the morning session would then start earlier, run from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm, and the afternoon session from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm, leaving the closing time the same as before. Justifications included bringing hours into line with China. Reactions from both brokers and the restaurant industry were mixed.^[10]

On 7 March 2011, the exchange extended its hours in the first of two phases. The morning session now runs from 9:30 am to 12:00 noon, followed by a ninety minute lunch break, and an afternoon session from 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm. Index futures and options now begin trading at 9:15 am, thirty minutes earlier than before, and close at the same time as before, 4:15 pm. On 5 March 2012, the lunch break will be cut to sixty minutes, with the afternoon session running from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm.^[6]

Electronic trading[link]

The exchange first introduced a computer-assisted trading system on 2 April 1986.^[11] In 1993 the exchange launched the "Automatic Order Matching and Execution System" (AMS), which was replaced by the third generation system (AMS/3) in October 2000.^[12]

Regulatory role[link]

David Webb, independent non-executive director of the Exchange since 2003, has been arguing for a super regulatory authority to assume that role as regulator, as there is inherent conflict between its commercial and regulatory roles. In the meantime, he argues for improved investor representation on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

In 2007, the uproar by smaller local stockbrokers over the decision by board of directors to cut minimum trading spreads for equities and warrants trading at between 25 HK cents and HK$2 caused the new board to vote to reverse the decision. The reforms were to be implemented in the first quarter, but was put back on the table following protests by brokers. Webb criticised the board for caving in to vested interests.^[13]

Trading characteristics[link]

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• It is perfectly normal for Hong Kong stocks of even well-known companies to trade at prices that correspond to less than HK$4 a share. A Hong Kong stock would not be considered a penny stock unless its price was less than about HK$ 0.50.
• Each stock has its own individual board lot size (an online broker will usually display this along with the stock price when you get a quote); purchases in amounts which are not multiples of the board lot size are done in a separate "odd lot market".
• There is a close-in-price rule for limit orders, which must be within 24 ticks of the current price. Individual brokers may impose an even stricter rule; for instance, HSBC requires limit orders to be within 10 ticks of the current price. Broker support for triggered order types such as market-if-touched orders would allow placing orders further away, which would be sent to the exchange when the price condition was established.

17 Largest stocks by market capitalisation[link]

Source: Bloomberg, in billions of Hong Kong dollars, Data updated on 20 April 2010

1. PetroChina: $2,492.04
2. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China: $1,810.14
3. China Mobile: $1,584.90
4. China Construction Bank: $1,514.72
5. HSBC Holdings: $1,433.27
6. Bank of China: $1,127.57
7. Sinopec Corp: $957.57
8. China Life Insurance: $922.64
9. China Shenhua Energy: $636.23
10. CNOOC: $609.29
11. Ping An Insurance Group of China: $448.11
12. Bank of Communications: $439.83
13. Standard Chartered Bank: $429.77
14. China Merchants Bank: $366.36
15. China Telecom: $309.16
16. Sun Hung Kai Properties: $299.51
17. Tencent Holdings: $286.53

See also[link]

• A Share
• Companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
• Economy of Hong Kong
• H Share
• Hang Seng Index
• Leading stock
• List of Chinese companies
• List of stock exchanges
• Stock disasters in Hong Kong

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hong Kong Stock Exchange

• Official site (English) (Chinese)

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