The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has reprimanded and fined XHK Limited (XHK) $2.5 million for regulatory failures in relation to the firm’s preparation of financial returns, maintenance of required liquid capital, and handling of client money and non-client money (Note 1). The disciplinary action follows an SFC investigation triggered by self-reports made by XHK. The SFC’s investigation found that XHK made various accounting errors in its financial returns submitte

The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) today published consultation conclusions on the legislative proposal to regulate virtual asset (VA) advisory and management service providers in Hong Kong (Note 1). The proposal for the VA advisory and management regimes received broad market support during the consultation (Note 2). Adhering to the “same business, same risks, same rules” principle, the scope of these regimes

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has banned Mr Paul Wan Kai Leung, former responsible officer, manager-in-charge, and director of Nerico Brothers Limited (NBL), from re-entering the industry for life (Note 1). The disciplinary action is related to the SFC’s earlier sanctions against NBL and its director, Jerff Lee Cheuk Fung, for misuse of client assets, facilitation of the misappropriation of client assets, and provision of false or misleading information to the S

The Eastern Magistrates’ Court today convicted well-known movie producer Mr Wong Pak Ming of insider dealing in the shares of Pegasus Entertainment Holdings Limited (Pegasus) in a criminal prosecution brought by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) (Note 1). The conviction, after a 16-day criminal trial, arises from Wong’s deliberate misuse of inside information acquired through his role as chairman and controlling shareholder of Pegasus and his decision to advise his

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) today issued a circular setting out the expected controls for account opening and maintenance of client relationships. The circular follows the SFC’s review of the account opening practices of 12 securities brokers. The review identified significant deficiencies, including inadequate due diligence on account opening documentation, the acceptance of questionable or forged documents during the account opening process, and weaknesses i

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) urges the investing public to stay highly vigilant against sophisticated fraudulent schemes that exploit the name of the Investor Compensation Fund (ICF) to target investors who have already suffered losses, often defrauding them a second time (Note 1). In recent cases reported to the SFC, fraudsters targeted individuals who had previously suffered investment losses – often from schemes orchestrated by the same syndicates – and fals

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has obtained a disqualification order in the Court of First Instance (Court) against Mr Poon Tsz Hang, the former financial controller and company secretary of Qunxing Paper Holdings Company Limited (Qunxing) (Notes 1 and 2). Under the Court order, Poon is disqualified for two years from being a director, liquidator, receiver or manager of the property or business, and being involved in the management of any listed or unlisted corpo

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has obtained disqualification orders with durations of up to 33 months in the Court of First Instance against four former directors of China Candy Holdings Limited (China Candy) over their negligence in failing to uncover the overstatements in the company’s financial records and in discharging their duties as directors (Notes 1 and 2). The four former directors of China Candy named in the SFC’s legal proceedings are: Ms Li Yuna and