Speech by SFST at opening of IMC's new Hong Kong office (English only)
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Michael (Chief Executive Officer of IMC Trading, Mr Michael De Lathauwer), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon. It is a great pleasure to join you today at the opening of IMC Trading's expanded Hong Kong office at Two International Finance Centre. I warmly congratulate IMC Trading on this expansion and welcome your continued growth. We look forward to seeing your Hong Kong team scale further as you recruit top quantitative, technical and trading talent. I wish IMC Trading every success in this new chapter.
Hong Kong stands today as one of the world's leading international financial centres and the world's top cross-boundary wealth management hub. Our cross-boundary assets amount to around $23 trillion. This position rests on deep liquidity, a trusted legal and regulatory framework, unmatched connectivity to the Chinese Mainland and the rest of Asia, and a sophisticated ecosystem that serves both institutional capital and private wealth.
Hong Kong's securities market has continued to strengthen in both depth and liquidity. This strength reflects a series of institutional reforms, including dedicated listing channels for new-economy and technology enterprises with weighted voting rights and for specialist technology companies, as well as enhanced pathways for overseas issuers. In the first 10 months of 2026, average daily turnover exceeded $260 billion. On the primary market, we recorded more than 120 IPOs (initial public offerings) raising a total of more than $400 billion, an increase of more than 80 per cent over the amount raised in the same period last year. We have also welcomed the first Middle East-headquartered company to list in Hong Kong, alongside successive listings from Southeast Asia. We now have more than 2 700 listed companies, of which 150 are international companies.
At the same time, we have been working closely with the HKEX (Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited) and the regulators on measures to enhance efficiency across the full market chain. These include the FINI (Fast Interface for New Issuance) digital IPO settlement platform that has shortened the pricing-to-trading cycle from T+5 to T+2; continued normal operation of securities and derivatives markets under severe weather conditions; narrower minimum price spreads for equities, allowing stock prices to better reflect market conditions; and enhancements to board lot sizes. Very soon we will launch the uncertificated securities market regime, further modernising our market infrastructure and strengthening investor protection and transparency.
Looking ahead, as set out in the 2026 Policy Address, we will continue to promote the high-quality development of our market. This includes the second-stage consultation on enhancing flexibility for mergers, acquisitions, restructuring and spin-offs; the forthcoming consultation on the specialist technology listing regime; and ongoing efforts to attract dual-primary and secondary listings from Southeast Asia, Belt and Road economies and other international markets. Preparations are under way for a T+1 settlement cycle for the cash market, and we are advancing the use of wholesale central bank digital currency for after-hours derivatives trading. We will also support a richer range of indices, index-based ETFs (exchange-traded funds) and derivatives products.
Hong Kong's attractiveness to firms like IMC Trading is no accident. We continue to strengthen the foundations of our international financial centre by deepening market connectivity, enhancing our regulatory regime for financial technology, and expanding the range of products and risk-management tools available to market participants. Our strengths in institutional trading and in private wealth management complement and reinforce one another.
Congratulations once again to IMC Trading, its leadership and its Hong Kong team on this milestone. We look forward to seeing the expanded office become a platform for further innovation, while Hong Kong continues to serve as a preferred base for global trading firms. Thank you.
Ends/Thursday, November 12, 2026
Issued at HKT 18:05
Issued at HKT 18:05
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