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Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) has launched its first 10 futures contracts in its index licensing agreement with Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI).
The 10-year agreement, announced in May earlier this year, outlined that 37 futures and options contracts would be launched in order to expand both HKEX’s derivatives product offering, and wider Hong Kong and emerging Asia markets.
Denominated in US dollars, the 10 MSCI index futures contracts track underlying equities in markets including Australia, mainland China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand.
Wilfred Yiu, head of markets at HKEX, comments: “Today’s listing marks an exciting new chapter for HKEX and our markets, as we provide even more choice to our customers, and continue to build the breadth, depth and attractiveness of Hong Kong's financial markets as a global trading and investment hub.”
“Global connectivity is a central premise of our strategy and our business and these derivatives contracts will greatly expand the coverage of underlying assets beyond Hong Kong and mainland China, to the rest of Asia and beyond. This will bring enhanced liquidity to our markets and greatly complement our existing product suite.”
Yiu continues: “We look forward to the rollout of further contracts and continuing to develop our ecosystem to make our markets even more vibrant, connected and attractive to our customers around the world.”
HKEX plans to launch the second round of contracts later on 20 July, subject to regulatory approval and market conditions.
