The government announced that trading would be conducted in adverse weather conditions starting from September 23. The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Professional Association pointed out that there were only three months from the announcement of the details to the scheduled implementation date, posing a certain challenge to small and medium-sized brokerages. In terms of specific implementation, the industry is particularly concerned about the personal safety risks of securities practitioners, as well as the cybersecurity and client information leakage risks when employees work from home.

The association hopes that the authorities can provide clear guidance to the industry on how to handle potential cybersecurity risks for securities practitioners who work from home, including determining who is responsible in the event of a hacker attack.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange (00388.HK) has indicated that it will fulfill the payment obligations of eligible brokerages that are unable to settle on adverse weather trading days. The industry is concerned that the application mechanism involved may cause small brokerages to hesitate to apply due to concerns that the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will view them as lacking in strength, ultimately leading to only large brokerages continuing to operate. They further pointed out that the implementation of the market closure arrangement in the face of strong winds may indirectly create an unfair competitive environment, which could lead to many small and medium-sized brokerages going out of business, causing a serious situation similar to the number of brokerages returning their securities licenses during the previous epidemic period.

He continued that the implementation of the market closure arrangement in the face of strong winds may indirectly create an unfair competitive environment, which could lead to many small and medium-sized brokerages going out of business. They are concerned that the number of brokerages returning their securities licenses in the future will be as serious as during the previous epidemic period.