In today’s Hong Kong cash market, listed issuers disseminate corporate action (CA) event information in an unstructured PDF format that is published through the HKEXnews website. Market participants such as CCASS participants, financial intermediaries and investors, largely interpret this bulk of unstructured and non-standardised information manually. Such processes naturally result in significant and unnecessary delays, risks and costs.
With the aid of the standardised messaging format of SWIFT’s ISO 15022 and ISO 20022, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) is launching the Corporate Action Message Standardisation (CAMS) project to facilitate market participants in achieving Straight Through Processing (STP) when handling CA event information in the Hong Kong cash market. This solution aims to standardise and streamline the existing processes and maximise efficiencies for market participants.
Current Pain Points
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| Potential for information misinterpretation |
CA event information is currently disseminated by the issuer in an unstructured format, which may lead to ambiguities and misinterpretation when extracting information. |
| Processing times |
The current process remains unsystematic due to the nature of the data, which may extend processing times and cause delays in reporting. |
| Data accuracy |
Processing non-standardised CA event information naturally increases the risk of errors. |
| Operational effort |
Data extraction and processing of CA event information largely involve manual work. With the number of listed companies steadily growing, the associated increased volumes of CA events will only incur higher operational costs and efforts in the future. |
CAMS Service Model
CAMS Value Proposition
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| Real-time information |
CAMS offers real-time and comprehensive CA event information. |
| Standardisation |
CA event messages will be compliant with ISO 15022 and/or ISO 20022, giving subscribers the option to select their suitable messaging standard.
The CAMS service allows for the dissemination of structured CA event information directly from issuers without manual intervention.
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| Efficiency |
By increasing the STP rate for CA event information processing, this will improve downstream efficiency and result in related cost savings.
The CAMS service will cover the CA event types that account for the majority of CA volumes.
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| Risk reduction |
Operational risk will be reduced, as CA event information is effectively received directly from issuers. Without the need for manually interpreting CA data, the risk of judgement or human error is also reduced. |
Scope of CA Event Information for CAMS Service
Upon completion of SWIFT setup, CCASS participants are able to receive ISO SWIFT messages once an issuer creates, updates or withdraws the CA event information.
CA event types covered for the CAMS service include:
- Cash dividend
- Cash dividend with currency option
- Cash dividend with scrip option
- Cash dividend with currency and scrip options
- Bonus issue of shares or warrants
- Interest payment
- Meeting notification
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CA Type
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ISO 15022
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ISO 20022
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Cash dividend (including scrip and currency options)
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Bonus issue of shares or warrants
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Interest payment
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Meeting notification
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X
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Documentation
For more information, please contact: hksccn_cams@hkex.com.hk