Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) has launched eight new futures contracts that are part of its index licensing agreement with MSCI to further expand HKEX’s derivatives product suite.

The MSCI index futures contracts, which are denominated in US dollars and track underlying equities in markets like mainland China, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, were successfully listed on HKEX’s derivatives market.

The exchange, which launched 17 MSCI index futures contracts in July, will launch, on August 17, a further eight US dollar-denominated futures contracts. Following these listings, it plans to launch four more contracts this year, subject to regulatory approvals and market conditions.

In May, HKEX signed a 10-year licensing agreement with MSCI to license a suite of MSCI indexes in Asia and emerging markets for the launch of 37 futures and options contracts in Hong Kong. The agreement expands the existing partnership between the two companies and reinforces their commitment to long-term product development in the region.

HKEX has also introduced incentive programmes for liquidity providers, proprietary traders and block trade participants to support the liquidity development of the contracts. In addition, the commission levy charged by the Securities and Futures Commission will be exempted for the first six months of trading.