Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) is to acquire a 15.58% stake in fixed income electronic trading platform BondsInAsia, equal to BIA's existing bank shareholders.
The move will enable HKEx to participate in the development of Asia's bond markets with the region's major fixed income dealers, says the firm, as well as generating additional business for the clearing house.
Kwong Ki-chi, chief executive of HKEx, says: "The BIA system allows its users to trade a wide range of Asian fixed income securities in their local currencies as well as in the G3 currencies-the US dollar, the Japanese Yen and the Euro. HKEx's investment in BIA will facilitate access via the exchange to BondsInAsia's proprietary electronic trading platform."
Current shareholders of BIA are BNP Paribas, Citigroup, CSFB, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Reuters; other stakeholders in the BIA franchises will include Barclays, DBS Bank, Hang Seng Bank, and Salomon Smith Barney.
Currently, the platform enables trading of Asian government and corporate debt securities in the HKD, SGD, USD, Yen and Euro currencies. In 2002, the company intends to expand into additional Asian local currency bond markets as well as to develop electronic trading platforms for other fixed income related products.