HSI Services, the compiler of the benchmark Hang Seng Index, is considering creating a new index or indices to track the performance of stocks listed on both the Hong Kong and mainland exchanges.
'There are more than 30 mainland companies with shares listed in both Hong Kong and China,' said Vincent Kwan Wing-shing, HSI Services' director and general manager. 'The market is increasingly interested in the price discrepancy between H shares and A shares.'
With mainland authorities pressing companies to sell shares in their home markets, Mr Kwan expects increasing numbers of firms will have dual listings, increasing investor interest in new indices.
If it proceeds with the plan, this will be the first time HSI Services will compile an index using shares listed outside Hong Kong.
This month, Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Joseph Yam Chi-kwong, in his weekly column, wrote that it is essential to find a way to end the price differentials between Hong Kong-listed H shares and mainland A shares.
As the idea is still under study, Mr Kwan is unable to provide any specifics about how such an index might be designed. It may compile a single index for the differential between H and A shares or two separate indices mirroring their own price movements, he said.