Hong Kong's Securities And Futures Commission Gazettes Amendment Notice To Expand And Update Lists Of Specified Futures And Stock Exchanges

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has gazetted today the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 1) Notice 2012 (Amendment Notice) to amend the lists of local and overseas futures and stock exchanges in Parts 2 and 3 of Schedule 1 to the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571) (SFO) by adding nine new exchanges and updating the names of some exchanges currently included in the lists. 

The public consultation ended on 21 April 2011 (Note 1). A total of six submissions were received from professional bodies, market participants and other interested parties. All respondents supported the proposals to amend the lists. Details of the submissions and the SFC’s responses are contained in the consultation conclusions.

The addition of the nine new exchanges to the lists would facilitate the development of Hong Kong as an international finance centre in general and as an asset management centre in particular, by expanding the scope of tax exemptions available to offshore funds to cover futures trading executed on these nine exchanges. This fulfils the commitments made by the Administration in the 2010-11 Budget to strengthen the competitiveness of the asset management industry in Hong Kong. The addition of these exchanges is policy neutral for the SFC. 

Subject to the legislative process, the amended lists will come into effect on 18 July 2012. 


Note:
1. On 21 February 2011, the SFC published the “Consultation Paper on Proposed Amendments to Specified Stock and Futures Exchanges”.