Severe weather will not affect MPF trading

HKEX maintains trading during severe weather

Severe weather can mean a Typhoon Signal No. 8 or above issued by the Hong Kong Observatory, a Black Rainstorm Warning, or if the Hong Kong Government announces an “extreme condition”. Under these conditions, all products in the securities and derivatives markets will continue to operate and offer trading services, including trade execution and settlement. This arrangement was first activated during Typhoon Toraji in November 2024, and the entire process operated smoothly.

Trustees will process instructions as usual

To align with this change, MPF trustees have also made corresponding adjustments. Before this arrangement, if the Hong Kong market was closed due to severe weather, trustees would not process members’ trade or redemption instructions until the market reopened. However, with the new arrangement, the market will continue to operate during severe weather. If members submit trades, switches, or redemption instructions before the cut-off time (generally before 4:00 PM), trustees will accept and process these instructions based on that day’s fund prices. This arrangement also applies to members and trustees using the eMPF Platform.

Online services operate as usual

Trustees are committed to maintaining normal operations through remote work during the severe weather trading arrangement period. This includes customer service channels such as hotlines, emails, WhatsApp, and Live Chat. However, counter services requiring face-to-face interaction will still be suspended.

Contribution dates and administrative processing remain unchanged

According to the MPF Ordinance, if an employer’s contribution due date falls on a day with a Typhoon Signal No. 8 or above or a Black Rainstorm Warning, the contribution date will be postponed to the next working day, this remains unaffected by the severe weather trading arrangements. Specific timelines for administrative processes, for example, the number of working days it takes to redeem all fund units from a member’s account upon full withdrawal, and the number of working days to pay out after redemption, also remain unchanged. This is because severe weather trading days are, in general, not considered “working days”, which is consistent with the situation before the new arrangement.

Increased flexibility for members

Although MPF is not a short-term investment, allowing trustees to process members’ trades and redemption instructions during market operations in severe weather provides greater flexibility for members. This also aligns with the natural trend of market development.