The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) today issued guidance on compliance with the new Guidelines for Securities Margin Financing Activities (Note 1).
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) posted on the SFC website today address concerns of the industry about compliance with the benchmarks set out in the guidelines, which will be implemented on 4 October 2019. The FAQs state that the objective of the guidelines is to help brokers identify the financial risks in relation to their securities margin financing business and to assist them in properly managing these risks to their excess liquid capital buffers.
"The new guidelines for securities margin financing activities are an important risk management tool in times of increased market volatility," said Ms Julia Leung, the SFC’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Intermediaries. "There is flexibility in the application of the benchmarks. When there is any deviation, we would adopt a pragmatic and holistic approach and would engage constructively with individual brokers in their transition to operate in alignment with these expectations."
The FAQs have been posted on the SFC website.
Notes:
- On 4 April 2019, the SFC issued Consultation Conclusions on the Proposed Guidelines for Securities Margin Financing Activities.
