HKEX said on November 13 that clearing participants in its derivatives market can pay advance margin deposits during the after-hours trading session from December 14, through a new payment option built on e-HKD, the wholesale central bank digital currency that runs 24 hours a day.
Eligible clearing participants of HKFE Clearing Corporation (期貨結算公司) will be able to submit advance margin requests from 5 pm to 1:30 am. The money counts toward their Capital Based Position Limit for that night session, so they can raise their limit after normal banking hours. The option is voluntary, and the daytime arrangements stay the same. Participants do not hold e-HKD themselves; their settlement bank handles it for them, HK01 reported.
According to the clearing house circular, the settlement banks taking part at launch are Bank of China (Hong Kong), HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong). Firms that want to use the service from the first day must return a registration form by November 30. HKEX and the HKMA announced the project in June, and HKEX said it has completed real-value trial transactions with the HKMA, settlement banks and clearing participants.
- Launch: December 14, 2026
- Payment window: 5 pm to 1:30 am on business days
- Settlement banks at launch: Bank of China (Hong Kong), HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong)
- Registration deadline for day-one users: November 30
Why it matters: Until now a derivatives firm that needed more margin during the night session had to wait for banks to open the next morning. The service takes wholesale e-HKD out of trials and into a clearing house’s routine operations, with three of Hong Kong’s note-issuing banks on board. HKEX plans to extend after-hours trading from March 2027, which will make the night payment window more useful to brokers.
Sources: 香港交易所 / Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), November 13, 2026; 期貨結算公司 / HKFE Clearing Corporation circular, November 13, 2026; 香港電台 / RTHK, November 13, 2026 (Chinese-language source, translated)
Image: LN9267, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
