Wise Shopper: Hong Kong Stock Loans

Do you own any stocks that are traded on the Hong Kong stock exchange? Or traded on one of the Asian stock exchanges?

We offer a number of highly customized securities based loan programs for securities (stocks) traded on the Hong Kong stock exchange or an Asian Stock Exchange. You can pledge the stocks you own as collateral to apply for a securities based loan. It is also referred to as share financing or a stock loan.

* Minimum Loan Amount: $500,000 USD

* Maximum Loan Amount: $200,000,000 USD

PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL LOAN

HKEx is based in Hong Kong, a leading international financial center, and its exchanges and clearing houses serve a wide range of companies, investors and market intermediaries. It is Asia's third largest stock exchange in terms of market capitalization behind the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange and fifth largest in the world. As of 31 Dec 2010, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange had 1,413 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of $2.9 trillion. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing is the holding company for the exchange.

Hong Kong HKEx is the operator and frontline regulator of the central securities and derivatives marketplace in Hong Kong. In this role, HKEx works closely with the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) to regulate listed issuers; administers listing, trading and clearing rules; and provides services at the wholesale level to customers of the exchanges and clearing houses, including issuers and intermediaries - namely investment banks or sponsors, securities and derivatives brokers, custodian banks and information vendors - who service the investor directly. The only exception to HKEx's wholesale role is the Investor Participant Account Service, which is mainly a custody service provided to retail investors as well as institutions.

As an infrastructure provider, HKEx is essentially an IT-based enterprise. HKEx provides services along the core part of the securities and derivatives transaction chains. These services comprise trading, clearing and settlement, depository and nominee services, and information services.

The history of the securities exchange began formally in the late 19th century with the first establishment in 1891, though informal securities exchanges have been known to take place since 1861. The exchange has predominantly been the main exchange for Hong Kong despite co-existing with other exchanges at different point in time. After a series of complex mergers and acquisitions, HKSE remains the core. From 1947 to 1969 the exchange monopolized the market.

It is normal for Hong Kong stocks of even well-known companies to trade at prices that correspond to less than HK$4 a share. A Hong Kong stock would not be considered a penny stock unless its price was less than about HK$ 0.50.

Each stock has its own individual board lot size (an online broker will usually display this along with the stock price when you get a quote); purchases in amounts which are not multiples of the board lot size are done in a separate "odd lot market".

There is a close-in-price rule for limit orders, which must be within 24 ticks of the current price. Individual brokers may impose an even stricter rule; for instance, requires limit orders to be within 10 ticks of the current price. Broker support for triggered order types such as market-if-touched orders would allow placing orders further away, which would be sent to the exchange when the price condition was established.