Top prosecutor Kevin Zervos calls for curb on legal power of SFC
Kevin Zervos says finance watchdog should be stripped of its authority to prosecute as it could conflict with regulatory and investigative role
The Securities and Futures Commission should be stripped of its power to prosecute because it lacks sufficient internal regulation and oversight, Hong Kong's top prosecutor has warned.
Kevin Zervos, the director of public prosecutions, writes in a soon-to-be-released report that law enforcement agencies should not carry the responsibility for prosecuting because this may conflict with their roles as investigators and regulators.
Leaving prosecutions to the Department of Justice would also act as a necessary check on their powers, he adds.
Zervos, who steps down next month, revealed tension has arisen between the SFC and the prosecutions division of the Department of Justice.
The SFC's right to prosecute on its own - which applies in certain market-related cases before magistrates - should be transferred to the prosecution service, he argues. "I note that the Securities and Futures Commission is a regulatory and investigatory agency with extensive coercive powers.
"But it also has prosecutorial responsibility and in this regard there has been tension between us," he says in the report. Zervos contrasts the SFC's position with that of the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
The ICAC is not responsible for prosecuting and its investigations are supervised by the Operation Review Committee (ORC), comprising members of the community.