SFC bans Ho Hin Hang for five months

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has banned Mr Ho Hin Hang, former responsible officer (RO), manager-in-charge (MIC) and director of Lion Futures Limited (LFL), for five months from 21 May 2025 to 20 October 2025 (Note 1).

The disciplinary action follows the SFC’s sanctions against LFL for its failures in complying with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) and other regulatory requirements during the relevant period between May 2017 and July 2019 (Note 2).

The SFC considers that LFL’s failures were attributable to Ho’s failure to discharge his duties as an RO and a member of the senior management of LFL between May 2017 and September 2018 within the relevant period.

The SFC’s investigation found that LFL, without conducting adequate due diligence, was unable to properly assess and manage the money laundering and terrorist financing and other risks associated with permitting its clients to use client supplied systems (CSSs) in placing orders (Notes 3 and 4). The SFC also found that LFL failed to establish effective ongoing monitoring system to detect and assess suspicious trading patterns in client accounts.

In deciding the disciplinary sanctions against Ho, the SFC has taken into account that:

• the failures of him and LFL to diligently monitor clients’ activities and put in place adequate and effective AML/CFT systems and controls are serious because their failings could undermine public confidence in, and damage the integrity of, the market;

• a strong deterrent message needs to be sent to the market that such failures are not acceptable; and

• he has an otherwise clean disciplinary record.

End

Notes:

1. Ho was licensed under the Securities and Futures Ordinance to carry on Type 2 (dealing in futures contracts) and Type 5 (advising on futures contracts) regulated activities and was accredited to LFL and approved to act as its RO from 29 December 2016 and 31 January 2019. Ho was also LFL’s MIC for overall management oversight, key business line, operational control and review, compliance, anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing, and risk management during different time periods between 14 July 2017 and 31 January 2019. He is currently not licensed by the SFC.

2. LFL was reprimanded and fined $2.8 million by the SFC for its failures in complying with AML/CFT and other regulatory requirements. Please see the SFC’s press release dated 22 November 2023.

3. CSSs are trading software developed and/or designated by the clients that enable them to conduct electronic trading through the internet, mobile phones and other electronic channels.

4. The CSSs were connected to LFL’s broker supplied system (BSS) through application programming interface (a set of functions that allows applications to access data and interact with external software components or operating systems). BSSs are trading facilities developed by exchange participants or vendors that enable the exchange participants to provide electronic trading services to investors through the internet, mobile phones and other electronic channels.