Bright Smart Securities takes out newspaper ads calling for Hong Kong stock exchange to stay open during typhoons, heavy rain

Currently the stock and futures markets close when the Hong Kong Observatory issues a typhoon signal No 8 or a black rainstorm signal

The system puts Hong Kong at odds with most major global exchanges and can cost billions of dollars in lost trading annually

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The Hong Kong stock exchange closed for the morning of June 28 when the black rainstorm signal was raised. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 5:30pm, 26 Jul 2021Updated: 5:44pm, 26 Jul 2021

One of the largest retail stockbrokers in Hong Kong has taken out advertisements in three Chinese language newspapers urging the local stock market to remain open when bad weather strikes.

By placing full-page ads in Sing Tao Daily, the Hong Kong Economic Times, and a smaller one in the Oriental Daily News on Monday, Bright Smart Securities becomes the first of the city’s major brokers to publicly go against the century-old tradition of suspending trading amid severe weather conditions.

Currently the stock and futures markets close when the Hong Kong Observatory issues a typhoon signal No 8, signalling a storm with sustained wind speeds of up to 117 km per hour. Trading also ceases when a black rainstorm signal is issued during downpours exceeding 70 millimetres in an hour.

The system puts Hong Kong at odds with most major global exchanges and can cost billions of dollars in lost trading annually.

“We fully urge Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing to open its markets as usual during the Typhoon No 8 or black rainstorm signals as this would help protect the assets of investors. There is everything to gain and nothing to lose from this,” the securities firm said in its advertisements in the Hong Kong-based publications.

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