Hong Kong police said on Friday they had arrested a businessman who allegedly hacked into the news website of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (HKEx), the world's biggest bourse operator by market value.

With full cooperation of the IT department of the Hong Kong exchange, police swiftly obtained the relevant computer records for analysis, a police officer told reporters.

The 29-year-old businessman was arrested on Thursday in Kwun Tong in Kowloon for committing an offence of access to computer with dishonest or criminal intent, the officer said without giving further details.

Any person convicted of such a crime is subject to a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment.

The cyberattack led to a half-day trading suspension of several blue chip counters, such as HSBC Holdings Plc and HKEx itself, as well as hundreds of derivatives.

The police seized a total of 5 computers, 2 mobile phones and 2 digital storage devices during the action. The arrested person is now being detained for further enquiries, the officer said.

(Reporting by Alison Leung; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)