Hong Kong Stock Exchange updates the stock options major players plan, including 22 underlying assets, new regulations will be effective on July 2nd.

On June 9th, HKEX announced updates to the Stock Options Market Maker Program, which will take effect on July 2nd (Thursday) and will be valid for one year until June 30, 2027, including that day. The newly included participants in the program are AIA (01299), Baidu Group (09888), BYD COMPANY (01211), China Mobile Limited (00941), HSBC HOLDINGS (00005), TENCENT (00700), and 22 other targets. According to the rules, there are specific thresholds for applicants of this program. Eligible applicants must have been a current primary market maker and/or continuous quoting market maker for the stock options contract for the past 12 months. Regarding the responsibilities of the market makers, the new regulations set standard requirements for quoting services of primary market makers. In terms of the spread between option buying and selling prices, HKEX will categorize each stock options contract into Level 1 (normal spread for high liquidity options), Level 2 (wider spread for low liquidity options), and Level 3 (wider spread for high volatility options) based on the trading volume and volatility of the relevant stocks. Any changes will be notified to the primary market makers in advance via email. In order to incentivize market makers to fulfill their duties and improve market liquidity, HKEX has also introduced a graduated trading fee discount policy.