Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing has confirmed that it will suspend its closing auction system from March 23, following the HSBC share price drop earlier in the month.
The Exchange said in a statement that the securities market will now close at 4:00 pm and use its old method for calculating prices. To do this the Exchange will take an average of five random prices from the last minute of the session.
The decision, which was unofficially announced the previous week, is thought to be a result of HSBC’s controversial share price drop on March 9 when a run on the bank led its share price to drop by 24%.The closing auction system was accused by some parties of facilitating the drop.
Under the system, a 10-minute auction takes place after the close of the trading day. Buy and sell orders are gathered in the first eight minutes and in the final two, they are matched and executed.
Orders can come in at a wide range. A stock’s closing price is determined to be the same as that where a maximum number of trades can be made.
In October, when Asialaw interviewed the Martin Wheatley, the Commission’s chief executive officer, he defended his policy on the closing auction. Wheatley argued that “it is the best model, but it takes time to settle down and we’re still doing that.”
The exchange announced on March 11 it would suspend the closing auction system indefinitely. However, a 2% cap is still viewed as a likely solution if and when the auction system is re-introduced.
Many observers believe a cap would limit the usefulness of the auction. It would eliminate the ability to trade outside the band of ordered prices and artificially constrain prices, they say.
Under this system, a 10-minute auction takes place after the close of the trading day. Buy and sell orders are gathered in the first eight minutes and in the final two, they are matched and executed. Orders can come in at a wide range. A stock’s closing price is determined to be the same as that where a maximum number of trades can be made.
Supporters of the closing auction system say it was designed to “smooth out” trades happening at the end of the day which might have otherwise impacted the closing share price, said Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partner Robert Ashworth.
Candice Mak