Stock exchange aims to ensure Occupy Central will not halt trading

The city's stock exchange and 450 brokerage houses have been working closely to ensure that retail investors will be able to trade on the local stock market if a planned protest by Occupy Central blocks streets in the central business district.

Occupy Central with Love and Peace plans to gather outside the government headquarters in Tamar on Sunday night, said co-organiser Benny Tai Yiu-ting. After that , "wave after wave of actions" would unroll if Beijing imposed restrictions on the city's 2017 elections that the group feels will restrict universal suffrage.

The group has vowed to block streets in the financial district, where the exchange trading hall, the Hang Seng Indexes company and most brokers work. The biggest challenge for firms will be ensuring staff can work - either at their offices or elsewhere.

Christopher Cheung Wah-fung, legislator for the financial services sector and chairman of Christfund Securities, one of the city's largest local brokers, said his firm and most others had prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Securities and Futures Commission.

"The regulator has asked all brokers to prepare for an emergency," he said.

That means that firms must have backup offices or other arrangements in case brokerage staff cannot reach their offices in Central. Brokers also need to give their mobile and home numbers to their customers to allow investors to make inquiries or place trading orders.