HKEX to Accept e-HKD for After-Hours Margin
HKEX will let eligible clearing participants pay advance margin deposits for derivatives after-hours trading in wholesale e-HKD from 14 December 2026. An advance margin deposit is money posted up front to cover positions, and e-HKD is Hong Kong’s central bank digital currency (CBDC). “Wholesale” means the version used between financial institutions rather than by the public. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) announced the change today.
The new payment option applies to the After-Hours Trading (AHT) session in the derivatives market. Eligible clearing participants of HKFE Clearing Corporation Limited (HKCC), the HKEX clearing house for its derivatives market, can submit advance margin deposit requests from 5:00 pm to 1:30 am for funds tied to the corresponding AHT session.
Because e-HKD operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, margin can be posted outside banking hours while existing operational workflows stay in place.
HKEX describes the purpose in its own text:
The extended payment time window supplements existing payment arrangements and provides greater flexibility in managing their Capital Based Position Limit utilisation outside regular banking hours.
HKEX
A Capital Based Position Limit caps the positions a participant can hold relative to its capital. The facility sits alongside current payment methods and does not replace them.
Participants must submit requests through the Report Access Platform (RAP), HKEX’s online portal for clearing participants. They first register for a new RAP account by returning Registration Form G-Form 23 to cs_cps_cc@hkex.com.hk. HKEX has published a user guide for advance margin deposit request submission under AHT, and a RAP technical guide, on its Client Connect platform.
HKEX and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the city’s central bank, announced the pilot on 18 June 2026. Under HKCC Rule 404A, the clearing house has absolute discretion to accept any CBDC it prescribes as payment of advance margin deposit. It treats the payment as cash collateral that counts toward net margin liabilities.
HKEX separately plans to extend AHT hours from March 2027, which it describes as complementary to the digital payment solution.
Clearing participants, and the brokers that clear through them, have until the launch to complete RAP registration if they intend to use the facility. Retail accounts are not directly affected.
