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Do we really care whether traders who are making fortunes have to spend a couple of extra hours at work? The real issue is the amount of time operations staff, who are paid a lot less, have to spend in the office Read all comments »
Lazy traders in Hong Kong could soon be spending even longer at their screens. The Hong Kong stock exchange has caffeine-inducing plans in the pipeline to extend futures and options trading by two hours until 6pm.
Emmanuel Faure, chairman of the Asian branch of the Futures Industry Association, reckons this would boost cross-market activity with London and bring Hong Kong more into line with other Asian exchanges.
Days are already getting longer for traders. On Monday the Hong Kong bourse extended the normal trading day for securities by (horror of horrors) 10 minutes, to 4.10pm.
Any move to oblige traders to spend more time at their desks will bring wry smiles to the jaded faces of investment bankers leaving the office in the small hours.
Traders stuck to their guns in 2001 and managed to stop a similar move to make them work for longer. But should we let this slothful lot get away with it again?
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