HKMEx official for Q1 2009 but doubts remain
27 Jun 2008
by Laurence Davison, Paul Francis-Grey
The launch of Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange (HKMEx), a new commodities exchange aiming to offer a unique mix of international and mainland Chinese participation, has been officially slated for the first quarter of 2009. But market sources have said they are yet to be convinced of its prospects.
It has long been rumoured that Hong Kong was planning a commodity platform to bridge the gap between China’s vast but protected domestic markets and international trade, especially following comments in favour of commodity futures by the province’s financial secretary John Tsang Chun-wah earlier this month.
HKMEx has now revealed that Tsang will have an executive role in the new platform along with president – and ex-Nymex director in Asia – Thomas McMahon and chairman Barry Cheung. Cheung is also a former deputy chairman of oil trader Titan Petrochemicals which will become a shareholder in the new exchange....