88 | Financial and Monetary Affairs
2008 and a draft Companies Bill will be presented for public consultation in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Meanwhile, the Government continues to work closely with stakeholders, including the SFC and the HKEX, to ensure that the legislative proposal to give statutory backing to major listing requirements can improve market quality and increase investor protection without hampering market development.
Review of the Trustee Ordinance
A Government review of the Trustee Ordinance is continuing. The aim is to provide a better framework for the operation of trusts in Hong Kong, strengthen the competitiveness of Hong Kong's trust services industry and to enhance Hong Kong's position as an international financial centre.
Enhancement of the Financial Infrastructure
The HKMA is committed to building a safe and efficient financial infrastructure in Hong Kong, based on a multi-currency, multi-dimensional platform. It is also developing Hong Kong as a payment and settlement centre in the region.
Major projects completed in 2008 include:
• improvements to the CMU to facilitate Discount Window borrowing by banks under five temporary measures to provide liquidity assistance to banks;
new RTGS facilities to facilitate liquidity management by banks;
System improvements to facilitate Islamic-related transactions; and
• one-way joint-clearing service for US dollar cheques between Hong Kong and Macao.
During the year, the HKMA stepped up its drive to explore opportunities to link the various RTGS systems and the CMU with similar systems in the region, and to promote the adoption of Hong Kong's clearing and settlement systems.
Development of the Bond Market
The Government has boosted development of the bond market in recent years by providing it with the necessary financial infrastructure, simplifying the issuance process, removing regulatory impediments, offering tax incentives and encouraging public corporations to issue bonds. The education for bond investors was also strengthened.
The HKMA has increased the issuance of 5-year and 10-year Exchange Fund Notes and launched the 15-year Exchange Fund Notes to improve the maturity balance of the Exchange Fund Bills and Notes (EFBNs). The electronic trading platform for EFBNs, launched in December 2007, entered in its first full year of operation in 2008. The daily turnover of transactions done through the electronic trading platform rose to 40 per cent of the market's total transactions by year-end.
Outstanding Hong Kong dollar debts exceeded $716 billion at the end of 2008. Issuers included the Exchange Fund, statutory bodies or government-owned
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