Aiming to establish a dedicated, central risk and strategy function, we launched in early March 2012 the Risk and Strategy Unit to formalise the development and implementation of our overall approach to risk and facilitate the development of the policies and strategies to manage the relevant risks.

In their respective areas, our operational units closely monitor and assess risks and report regularly to the Board their analysis and recommendations on managing such risks.

We have a market contingency plan, which details procedures for dealing with emergency situations that may affect Hong Kong’s securities and futures markets. We also have in place our own business resumption plan, which covers readily identifiable risks, including technical problems, fires, nature disasters and other emergencies. The plan is updated annually.

We have a framework of control to manage our information security. During the year, we revised our information security policy to strengthen our level of security standards and to help staff observe security practices in their daily handling of information.