'Through train' on track for October, chief says

The Hong Kong Shanghai Stock Connect program will launch on a Monday early in October after China's National Day holiday, the head of the stock exchange in Hong Kong said on Wednesday.

"It's not up to the exchange but to the regulators to announce the date," said Charles Li, chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd, which operates the city's stock exchange, the world's largest by market capitalization.

"But we are not going to be completely ready until October. We do not want the National Day, a major holiday, coming right after the initiative. We would also not want any day other than Monday as we'd like to have the whole weekend for last-minute testing.