Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) is pleased to announce that it entered into agreements in order to acquire a 20 per cent stake in the holding company of CMU OmniClear Limited, as the financial market infrastructure operators strengthen their partnership to advance the development of Hong Kong’s fixed-income and currencies (FIC) ecosystem.
HKEX will invest as much as HK$455 million1 in CMU OmniClear Holdings Limited via the subscription of new shares.
Following completion, HKEX and the Exchange Fund managed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) will “hold 20 per cent and 80 per cent of CMU OmniClear Holdings, respectively.”
A signing ceremony was held between HKEX, the Exchange Fund and CMU OmniClear Holdings in “connection with the subscription.”
This investment builds on the Memorandum of Understanding signed between HKEX and CMU OmniClear in March 2025, and underscores HKEX’s commitment to “cement Hong Kong’s position as an FIC centre and an international Renminbi (RMB) hub.”
CMU OmniClear is a company established to carry out the “operations of the Central Moneymarkets Unit (CMU) on behalf of the HKMA.”
HKEX and the HKMA will harness their resources, tech, talent and market expertise to enable the development of Hong Kong’s post-trade securities infrastructure into a central securities depository (CSD).
This will involve the commercialisation of CMU and the pursuit of business development initiatives in “areas such as expansion of its investor CSD services, asset classes coverage and collateral management services, with the goal of enhancing CMU’s competitiveness, and the cross-asset class efficiency of CSD platforms in Hong Kong.”
Bonnie Y Chan, Chief Executive Officer of HKEX, said that they are pleased to be joining forces with the HKMA and CMU OmniClear on this journey to support the “next chapter of growth in Hong Kong’s FIC ecosystem. Developing our FIC capabilities sits at the core of HKEX’s objectives, and this investment reflects commitment to building a … multi-asset class product network.”
As global investors seek more opportunities centred around their region, theylook forward to working “with regulators and market participants to further enhance Hong Kong’s status as a global bond fundraising, risk management and offshore RMB business centre, unleashing Hong Kong’s potential as a global FIC hub.”
Eddie Yue, Chief Executive of the HKMA and Chairperson of the Board of Directors of CMU OmniClear Holdings, said that the collaboration between the HKMA, CMU OmniClear and HKEX marks “a significant milestone in the development of Hong Kong’s financial infrastructure.”
Yue added that this partnership establishes a foundation for transforming CMU into a multi-asset class platform that “provides investors with access to equity and debt securities while facilitating two-way investment flows between the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong and international markets.”
The partnership forms part of efforts to develop Hong Kong’s FIC ecosystem, facilitating growth areas that “include offshore bond repo, OTC clearing, and interest rate derivatives, whilst enabling broader use cases for non-cash collateral, particularly RMB-denominated bonds such as Chinese Government Bonds.”
Proceeds of the investment, which will be funded by HKEX’s corporate funds, will now be used to support growth and market development initiatives of CMU OmniClear.
CMU, Hong Kong’s fixed-income CSD operated by CMU OmniClear, now reportedly has “around HK$5 trillion equivalent of assets under custody as of 30 Sept 2025 and plays a role in managing the clearing and settlement of bond transactions conducted on Bond Connect, as well as supporting the growth of Swap Connect by facilitating use of collateral held with CMU.”
These two Connect arrangements were jointly developed by HKEX and the HKMA, whose collab has reportedly contributed to the “continued success of both programmes, which hit fresh trading records this year.”