Hong Kong’s stock exchange would continue trading through typhoons and heavy storms from September, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee (李家超) announced yesterday.
The territory’s bourse typically suspends trading when a strong typhoon signal or “black rainstorm warning” is hoisted, meaning several days are lost each year.
Lee said that from Sept. 23 investors can trade as usual “when the typhoon signal number eight or above is hoisted in Hong Kong, or even during a black rainstorm warning.”
Photo: Bloomberg
“Shenzhen and Shanghai are now trading in bad weather. There is no reason why Hong Kong, as an international financial center, should not follow suit,” he said.
“Non-stop trading in inclement weather can strengthen the competitiveness of the Hong Kong Exchange,” he said, adding that the September time frame would give the industry time to prepare.
Hong Kong Securities Association chaireoman Katerine Kou (高鵑) said discussions on the move had continued for a year given the territory’s role as “a super connector between the Chinese market and the global market.”
“I think Hong Kong as a whole, including the exchange, has been trying to score more points and to enhance its global competitiveness,” Kou said. “This is definitely a score-winning move.”
Last year, the territory raised its highest “T10 warning — for Typhoon Saola — for only the 16th time since World War II. A week after Saola, Hong Kong was flooded by the heaviest rainfall in nearly 140 years, leaving its streets inundated and subway stations waterlogged.
According to a consultation paper from the city’s bourse proposing trading continue through bad weather, the exchange was affected by severe weather four times last year, “including three full-day market suspensions.”
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