HKEx targets derivatives growth

Subscribers that already pay for derivatives market data will not have to pay any additional fees for HKEx’s stock options market data, a spokesperson said. The program is part of HKEx’s plans "to revamp the stock options market", he says.

The standard fee for futures data is HK$11,500 a month, while those taking Hong Kong stock options data are charged HK$8,000 a quarter under a marketing programme. The latter is waived during 2005.

The programme is also designed to increase interest in stock options among individual investors, where interest in derivatives markets has slipped during the past year.

While the number of investors in the region who hold shares hit a high of 1.4 million in 2004, the number trading derivatives fell to 1.4% of the population, from 2.5% in 2003.

Separately, HKEx is planning to expand the distribution of its information within mainland China and to other regions, particularly Japan. The spokesperson said the exchange has seen growing investor interest within Japan, in mainland China and Hong Kong.

The exchange also plans to upgrade its derivatives data dissemination capacity. The spokesperson said HKEx hopes to sign up more information vendors to distribute data from its securities and derivatives markets.