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Financial and Monetary Affairs
regulation. The SFC also provided guidance on the expected standards and practices for virtual asset portfolio managers and fund distributors.
On the enforcement front, the SFC takes disciplinary action to maintain market integrity. Of the SFC licensees disciplined in 2018, 14 were individuals and 20 were corporations. Total fines were $193 million.
Commodity Trading
Hong Kong operates one of the most active physical gold markets in the world and is among Asia's largest OTC gold trading centres. Spot gold can be traded through two closely related yet independent markets: the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society and the Loco London gold market. Prices track closely those in the major gold markets in London, Zurich and New York.
In addition to operating Hong Kong's securities and derivatives markets, the HKEX owns the London Metal Exchange (LME), the world centre for industrial metals trading and price-risk management. More than three-quarters of global non-ferrous business are conducted on the LME and its prices are used as global benchmarks. The average daily volume for 2018 was 730,498 lots. The LME's in-house clearing house in London, LME Clear, supports the exchange's commodity business.
Listing Regime for Companies from Emerging and Innovative Sectors
In April, the SEHK revised its listing rules to facilitate the listing of companies from emerging and innovative sectors, subject to safeguards. The expanded listing regime allows the Main Board listing of pre-revenue and pre-profit biotechnology companies, high-growth and innovative companies with weighted voting rights structures, and qualifying issuers seeking a secondary listing on the SEHK through a new concessionary route.
The new listing regime caters for the fund-raising needs of the new economic environment and makes Hong Kong's listing platform more attractive to issuers from different jurisdictions, thereby strengthening the city's overall competitiveness vis-à-vis other major international listing venues. As at end-2018, seven companies were listed successfully on the SEHK under the new regime.
Bond Market Development
Hong Kong is a major bond market in Asia. Outstanding HKD debt securities, including EFBNS, totalled $1,844.5 billion at the end of 2018.
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