NEWS RELEASE

27 April 2001

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) will introduce new order input restrictions to AMS/3, the Third Generation Automatic Order Matching and Execution System, on Monday, 21 May 2001 to prevent non-odd lot trading and erroneous trades in the odd lot/ special lot market.

The first new measure will reject order input with a price at or above the lowest input price limit in the board lot market, (currently at $0.01 for all securities other than debt securities and $0.5 for debt securities) and with a quantity equal to or greater than one board lot in the odd lot/ special lot market. This is designed to prevent non-odd lot trading with a price at or above 0.01 in the odd lot/ special lot market.

HKEx will also introduce the Nine-time Price Restriction, which is similar to the one for the board lot market, to the odd lot/ special lot market. Under the new arrangement, all order prices for the odd lot/ special lot market shall not deviate nine times or more from the nominal price when the nominal price of the security is above $0.01 (or $0.5 for debt securities). This is designed to prevent erroneous trades in the odd lot/special lot market.

When the nominal price of a security is at $0.01 (or $0.5 for debt securities), the order price in the odd lot/ special lot market can be as low as $0.001, which is the system's current technical limit. However, the maximum order price will still be subject to the Nine-time Price Restriction.

The existing order price restriction for the board lot market will remain unchanged.

© Copyright 1996-2006 irasia.com Ltd. All rights reserved. Tel: (852) 2831-9792.

DISCLAIMER: irasia.com Ltd makes no guarantee as to the accuracy or completeness of any information provided on this website. Under no circumstances shall irasia.com Ltd be liable for damages resulting from the use of the information provided on this website. TRADEMARK & COPYRIGHT: All intellectual property rights subsisting in the contents of this website belong to irasia.com Ltd or have been lawfully licensed to irasia.com Ltd for use on this website. All rights under applicable laws are hereby reserved. Reproduction of this website in whole or in part without the express written permission of irasia.com Ltd is strictly prohibited. TERMS OF USE: Please read the Terms of Use governing the use of our website.