Hong Kong Mercantile Deploys Radware

The Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange ("HKMEx") has deployed Radware's AppDirector 504 - OnDemand Switch with its full featured IPS functionality and protection capabilities including DoS shield, behavioral DoS and bandwidth management.

HKMEx is a newly established commodities exchange in Hong Kong. As a bridge for the international commodities markets with China, HKMEx provides an efficient and transparent pricing platform for end-users and the global trading community to trade tailor-made contracts, hedge pricing risks in China and across the region. With the new platform, HKMEx offers competitive transactions costs and ultimately increase participation with Chinese commodities traders.

In the last year, HKMEx hired Red Jasper, a business and technology consultant, to select a high-performance platform capable of being scalable to meet its business growth demands. At the same time, the platform was not to compromise performance or security. After a thorough assessment, Radware's OnDemand Switch with its full feature IPS capabilities was chosen amongst platforms.

"We selected Radware's OnDemand Switch as we were impressed by its exceptional performance especially concerning long-term scalability, creating unique business benefits and protection of our technology investment," said Mr. Kevin B. Iwanaga, Chief Technology Officer of HKMEx. "We are glad to have partnered with Radware and Red Jasper as they can deliver top-of-the-line hardware and software integration services, which will provide a secure online environment."
Mr. Bernard Tan, Principal Consultant of Red Jasper, said "We examined and compared the products available in the market and Radware's OnDemand Switch delivers the breakthrough performance and scalability needed in today's evolving market. It is also able to detect and react against network or server attacks in real-time. "Both Radware's Layer 4-7 performance in load balancing and comprehensive security features are unprecedented in the market and play an important role in helping us to deliver on customers' objectives," Mr. Tan continued.

"Our OnDemand Switch was designed with customers in mind," said Maurice Wong, Country Manager, Radware, Hong Kong. "Based on innovative architecture and an easily upgradeable license approach, customers will be able to scale easily with no need to swap out existing equipment. This results in the ability of our customers to easily meet their network and business needs more efficiently and effectively, avoiding unnecessary project migration downtime, extra costs and risks."

Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange

Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange ("HKMEx") has been founded on June 25, 2008 with the objective of bridging the international commodities markets with China through an efficient and transparent pricing platform for end-users and the global trading community. The company was founded on the conviction that state of the art trading systems would be built from Internet-enabled, secure platform. With the electronic trading platform on commodities, HKMEx allows customers to trade tailor-made contracts, hedge pricing risks in china and across the region, lower transactions costs and increase participation by Chinese commodities traders. HKMEx operates from Hong Kong headquarters and trading expected to commence in the first quarter of 2009.

BlocSec In Hong Kong Expansion

BlocSec, the first Asian dark pool to cater to both the buy side and the sell side launched by CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets earlier this year, is now offering block trading services in the Hong Kong market in addition to those already available in Singapore and Japan.

In the first week since the launch of the service in Hong Kong to existing CLSA Group clients on 14 August 2008, more than US$1.1 billion of liquidity has passed through the BlocSec platform at an average of US$243 million per day. The recent successful crosses in Hong Kong add to those already achieved in Singapore and Japan.

The service offers both buy and sell side participants an anonymous crossing network that eliminates information leakage and reduces the potential for negative market impact. Since its launch, more than 75 companies have signed up to trade via the BlocSec platform.

BlocSec CEO Ned Phillips said he was highly encouraged by the response to the BlocSec service and to the launch of the Hong Kong market. Since launching, BlocSec has seen liquidity in a total of 356 different stocks, with an average cross size of US$1.15 million.

“There is clearly demand for this type of service in Asia. Dark pools have become an essential part of trading strategy in the US and Europe and we are excited to be one of the first dark pools in Asia. We firmly believe that clients benefit greatly from improved liquidity and execution through the BlocSec platform,” Phillips said. BlocSec is built on the latest technology to provide an electronic marketplace with continuous and high speed order matching and execution. The minimum order is USD$1 million on a firm order basis only. A choice of crossing options is available from the traditional mid-point, passive and aggressive, through session-based and full day VWAP, as well as a last-close option.

Clients customize when and how to interact with the system. They can connect from their existing OMS using FIX, via the Bloomberg EMS or using the BlocSec web-based application front-end.