The short-selling service of Northbound shares (A Shares) (flagged in our previous blog post on 31 January 2015) began on 2 March 2015. Hong Kong and overseas investors can now participate in trading permitted Shanghai Stock Exchange securities (Eligible SSE Securities) under the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect (Stock Connect). The purpose of rolling out this short-selling service is to give investors more flexibility in trading strategy and risk management.

On days that A Shares are trading under Stock Connect, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx) will publish information on each Eligible SSE Security, including the maximum number of shares available for short-selling and the short selling turnover. For each Eligible SSE Security, there will be quantity and price restrictions.

A list of Eligible SSE Securities is available on the HKEx website.