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Following is the speech by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Professor K C Chan, at the ground breaking ceremony for the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx)'s Next Generation Data Centre today (February 8):
Dear Messrs (Ronald) Arculli, (Charles) Li, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning.
It is my great pleasure to join you for the ground breaking ceremony of HKEx's Next Generation Data Centre (NGDC). Today marks a significant milestone for HKEx, the financial industry, as well as the IT industry in Hong Kong.
HKEx is continuously striving to provide the best possible service to its users in every aspect. Even though HKEx's current IT infrastructure is more than sufficient for its needs today, HKEx is thinking and planning for the future. HKEx does not want an IT system that just "gets by", but one which will be the state-of-the-art by tomorrow's standards.
HKEx is making plans for an ecosystem where it can leverage information providers, technology vendors, and telecommunication providers to enhance its services.
Another major IT initiative happening in parallel is the upgrade in the securities market trading system. The new system will initially increase its capacity 10-fold to 30,000 orders per second and can be scaled up to 150,000 orders per second. The average order processing latency will also be reduced from the existing around 150 milliseconds to 9 milliseconds. With the upgrade, the new system will be able to disseminate 2,000 stock page updates per second, doubling the present level.
HKEx is the largest listed stock exchange in the world by market capitalisation. It is also a strategic asset in the development of Hong Kong as a Global Financial Centre. While exchanges worldwide are improving their services for investors, we must remain vigilant in enhancing our global competitiveness. I am pleased to see that HKEx is doing this. HKEx's investment in the IT infrastructure and advanced technology and the planning of the Next Generation Trading Platform, will further enhance our objectives to strengthen the competitiveness of our market amidst growing international competition.
I wish HKEx success in its continuous efforts in supporting the growth of our market and providing solutions to meet the ever-changing trading needs of all our investors.
Thank you.
Ends/Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Issued at HKT 17:03
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