Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission CEO Julia Leung announced plans to extend securities trading hours, with implementation beginning in the derivatives market. The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) will publish a discussion paper on extending spot market trading hours in the fourth quarter. Additionally, Hong Kong will shorten its settlement cycle to T+1, with HKEX set to release consultation conclusions shortly. Leung disclosed that the first phase of tick size reduction measures covering 300 stocks has narrowed bid-ask spreads by 38% and reduced execution time by 26%. Preliminary results from the second phase show an additional spread narrowing of approximately 30%. She noted that extended trading hours will be supported by tokenized money and digital Hong Kong dollar settlement mechanisms.