A new clearing mechanism for Hong Kong's financial markets could be in place before the end of the year, the head of a committee examining the prospect of merging Hong Kong's three clearing houses said.
Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) executive director David White, who chairs the inter-markets risk committee, said the exchanges were preparing their formal responses to an SFC presentation on possible models, which was made in May.
It is understood the clearing houses favour a model whereby they each become special members of the others, allowing for cross-margining by members.
Hong Kong has clearing houses for stocks, stock options and futures.
The Financial Services Bureau is pushing for the merger of all three clearing bodies, but it is likely that the stock-options and futures clearing houses will be the first of the trio to merge.
