The Hong Kong stock exchange will roll out an upgrade to its equity trading link into China in the next few weeks, something analysts hope will encourage global asset managers to start using the facility.
香港交易所(HKEx)将在未来几周出台新的“沪港通”股票交易规则，分析师希望这一举措将鼓励国际资产管理公司开始使用这一机制。
The Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, which launched in November, has been hailed as a landmark opening of domestic Chinese markets, enabling international investors to trade onshore equities without a special licence for the first time.
去年11月开通的“沪港通”，被誉为开放中国内地股市的里程碑式举动，使得国际投资者首次无需特殊牌照就能够交易中国内地股票。

However, because of operational problems with the scheme, many large fund managers have stayed on the sidelines, relying instead on the long-established quota system for accessing the Chinese market. Activity through the Stock Connect has been lacklustre , with only banks and hedge funds taking part.
然而，因为该机制操作方法上的问题，许多大型基金管理公司一直还在观望之中，眼下它们仍然依赖存在已久的配额制度来投资中国市场。“沪港通”下的交易一直不够活跃，参与者主要是银行和对冲基金。
The main problems centre on the ownership of securities and the settlement of trades. Investors must transfer shares they wish to sell to their custodian bank or broker before the start of the trading day so that the stock exchange can verify that the seller owns the asset.
主要问题在于证券所有权和交易结算方式。投资者必须在交易日开始之前，将想要出售的股票转移至托管银行或券商，以便交易所证实这些股票确实为出售者所有。
This gives the custodian temporary legal ownership of the security, increasing counterparty risk for the seller should a custodian unexpectedly runs into trouble. Since the financial crisis, investors have become more cautious about counterparty risk, even if just for a few hours during the execution of a trade.
这让托管人对这些证券拥有临时法定所有权，万一托管人意外出现问题，这就增加了卖方的交易对手风险。自金融危机以来，投资者对交易对手风险越来越小心，即便只不过是交易执行过程中的几个小时。
Trade settlement is also an issue. Currently, buyers take hold of securities on the day of a trade but sellers must wait another day to receive the cash. Once again investors, when selling shares, are left exposed to the possibility of counterparty failure.
交易结算方式也是个问题。目前，证券在交易当天就能到买方手上，但卖方必须再等一天才能收到钱。这再次让投资者在出售股票时面临交易对手风险。
Market participants hope that a forthcoming operational change — announced in January and now being tested — will help fix both issues, paving the way for the world’s largest fund managers to embrace the scheme.
改变“沪港通”操作方式的消息宣布于1月，眼下正在测试当中。市场参与者希望，即将出现的变化会有助于解决上述两个问题，为全球最大的一些基金管理公司接纳这个机制铺平道路。
The main change will allow investors to keep their shares but will enable the stock exchange to peer into their accounts to confirm their holdings. That, in turn, will make it possible for most brokers to offer a synthetic early settlement of trades, in effect fronting the cash to sellers a day before receiving it from the buyer.
主要的变化将是，允许投资者保留股票，但让交易所能够查看他们的账户以确定他们的持股情况。这又将进一步使多数券商能够提供提前的合成交易结算，实质上是在从买家收到现金的前一天就把钱支付给卖家。
For now, this synthetic settlement is available only through the handful of investment banks that have both custodian and equity-trading businesses.
目前，这种合成结算方式只有通过少数既有托管也有股票交易业务的投行才能进行。
“It doesn’t solve all the issues,” said Stephane Loiseau, head of Asian cash equities at Société Générale. “But everyone is quite bullish that this second version will help, especially for those [institutional] funds who’ve been effectively barred up to now.”
“这无法解决所有问题，”法国兴业银行(Société Générale)的亚洲现金股票负责人斯特凡纳•卢瓦索(Stephane Loiseau)称，“但是所有人都相当看好‘沪港通2.0’将对投资者有所帮助，特别是对那些迄今实际上一直被禁入的（机构）基金。”
Challenges for asset managers are likely to remain. Many have mandates that prevent them from investing into the Chinese mainland, so they must redraft these rules before they can start buying through Stock Connect.
资产管理公司面临的挑战很可能会继续存在。很多资产管理公司的业务授权使他们无法在中国内地投资，因此他们必须先修改这些授权规则，才能开始通过“沪港通”购买股票。
A shortage of English-language research on Shanghai-listed stocks is another problem, while legal questions remain over certain shareholder rights, such as being able to sue a mainland Chinese company.
另一个问题是，缺少对上海上市股票的英文调查分析，同时某些股东权利仍然存在法律问题，比如有关能否起诉中国内地公司的问题。
The Hong Kong exchange plans to open a second link into the Shenzhen stock exchange this year, and hopes to add other asset classes — such as equity derivatives and fixed income — later on.
香港交易所计划在今年开启第二个互联互通机制——将之与深圳证券交易所相连的“深港通”，并且希望在晚些时候加入其它资产类别——比如股票衍生工具及固定收益产品。