HKEX to launch first RMB currency options in March

A trader in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Parker Zheng / China Daily

HONG KONG - The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited will introduce its planned renminbi currency options on March 20.

The US dollar-offshore RMB (USD/CNH) options will be the first currency options traded at the HKEX.

The eight contract months on the launch day will comprise April, May, June, July, September and December 2017, and March and June 2018.

The new product will complement the HKEX's USD/CNH futures, which have been the world leaders in liquidity and distribution among exchanges over the last few years, and other?renminbi currency futures.

In 2016, the trading volume of the HKEX's USD/CNH futures more than doubled from the previous year to an all-time high of 538,594 contracts, with the notional amount totalling $54 billion.