HK exchange trading disrupted as hackers target website [August 10 2011]

The Hong Kong stock exchange was forced to suspend trading in stocks including HSBC Holdings after hackers broke into the exchanges website today, preventing investors from accessing company announcements made during the midday break. "Our current assessment that this is a result of a malicious attack by outside hacking," the chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing (HKEx) Charles Li told reporters after the company announced interim results.

In a statement released earlier, HKEx said it had adopted a half-day (one trading session) suspension policy for issuers that announce price-sensitive information during the lunch hour. Other systems at the exchange were not affected and trading in its securities and derivatives markets operated normally, the exchange said.

If the website remains unstable on Thursday, the exchanges bulletin board will be used for dissemination of information but the stocks will be not suspended, said Mark Dickens, head of listing at HKEx. Dickens added that the move to suspend trading was part of a contingency plan approved by the territorys stock regulator.