Fimat, one of Hong Kong's biggest futures brokers, will offer trading in Asian index futures for the first time on the Internet.
Fimat Asia private client manager Ngo Tong-heng said he expected the first Internet trades to be conducted this week.
He said the broker had received a strong response from potential clients interested in on-line trading.
'It's more convenient because you don't have to spend so much time calling brokers when their line is busy.' Clients will be able to trade the Hang Seng Index, Tokyo's Nikkei-225 Index and Australia's share price index (SPI), but Mr Ngo expected interest to initially focus on the Hang Seng.
An order will take up to three seconds to submit to the broker over the Internet after which the order will be processed conventionally.
Clients will have their own password and identification to ensure security and will be restricted from taking excessive positions by a risk-maintenance system built into their software.