HKEx aims to launch first exchange-traded USD/CNH option this year: exec

[HONG KONG] The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (HKEx) aims to launch the world's first exchange-traded USD/CNH option product by the end of this year, amid growing demand to hedge currency risk arising from a more volatile yuan.

The Hong Kong bourse is also considering introducing more yuan currency futures, including against the Korean won and the British pound, after a plan to add four currency pairs of yuan futures next Monday.

"The yuan futures market has grown quite a lot since last August after the People's Bank of China allowed more two-way volatility of the currency," Julien Martin, head of fixed income and currency (FIC) product development at the HKEx told Reuters on Friday.

"It is a market that is growing not only in terms of daily trading volumes, but the overall people who use it. An interesting trend is that asset managers and big state-owned enterprises have started to use these contracts more and more."

REUTERS