HSBC launches real-time online retail bond trading platform in HK

The platform offers wide range of bonds and CDs with subscription amount as low as HK$50,000.

HSBC on Wednesday launched Hong Kong’s first online retail bond trading platform enabling investors to execute real-time trades for a wide choice of bonds and certificates of deposit (CDs). Accessible via HSBC Personal Internet Banking, HSBC’s Online Retail Bond Trading Platform also provides extensive bond market information, which helps customers capture bond market opportunities based on transparent buy/sell pricing without any extra handling and safe custody fee.

Bruno Lee, HSBC’s Regional Head of Wealth Management Asia Pacific, said: “Investors in Hong Kong are becoming more sophisticated and continue to diversify their portfolios into broad asset classes. As retail investors continue to evolve they will require user-friendly, one-stop trading platforms to take full advantage of market movements.

HSBC’s ground-breaking Online Retail Bond Trading Platform brings a brand new bond investment experience to our retail customers. It seamlessly facilitates timely bond transactions in Hong Kong and provides retail customers with the value-added benefits of comprehensive market information and a secure infrastructure to unlock their wealth potential in the bond market.”

From now until 31 December 2010, customers can enjoy a 0.1 per cent cash rebate (up to HK$1,000) on any successful bond purchase via HSBC Personal Internet Banking, phone banking service or branches, according to an HSBC report.

HSBC’s Online Retail Bond Trading Platform offers a wide range of investment grade bonds and CDs with up to seven currencies3 for selection. While offering short-tenor corporate bonds and government bonds, the service also matches retail customers’ needs by including reputable issuers and a subscription amount as low as HK$50,000.

Mr. Lee said: “Globally, bonds are an all-weather wealth management tool that can play an important role in stablising a retail investor’s portfolio. It can provide regular income while serving as a useful risk mitigation instrument in a volatile investment environment. In recent years, we have seen increasing demand for bonds from local retail investors. Customers have been interested in HKD and USD bonds, which can help them earn better yield than normal deposits and minimise the risk exposure to currency fluctuation. There has also been keen interest in and strong demand for RMB bonds.”

HSBC’s Online Retail Bond Trading service supports instant order execution during transaction hours. Customers can receive SMS alerts on order confirmation or check the related order status online immediately, which significantly reduce the waiting time to confirm an order and ensure customers can respond to market movements in a timely manner. The service also offers comprehensive bond market information and an intelligent search tool to help customers make informed investment decisions.

Justin Chan, Deputy Head of Global Markets Asia Pacific, said: “The Asian bond market has grown steadily over the past decade. Most Asian currencies have strengthened against the US dollar year-to-date and investors have an optimistic outlook towards future growth in Asia. Currency appreciation and growth momentum provide a good investment backdrop for investing in the Asian local currency bond market. For Hong Kong, overseas issuers continued to play a substantial role in the local debt market in addition to bonds issued by large local corporations on a regular basis. This allows investors to access a wide range of different credit names, further enhances development of the local bond market and reinforces Hong Kong’s position as an international fund-raising centre.”

HSBC’s Online Retail Bond Trading Platform also provides clear and transparent bid-offer pricing information for bonds. Customers are not required to pay an extra handling fee or safe custody fee.

To support the launch of this new Online Retail Bond Trading Platform, on 15 November 2010 and 29 November 2010, HSBC is also offering an exclusive six-month RMB CD online with a coupon rate of 1.8 per cent p.a. to provide retail customers with an even wider investment choice.