New lawsuit ratchets up pressure on HKMEx
Fallout from failure of exchange worsens as writs pile up amid police investigations
A global provider of data services is suing the failed Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange for more than US$1 million in outstanding service payments.
Cheung was widely regarded as Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's closest aide, but quit all his public posts in May amid police investigations of allegedly bogus documents linked to the failed commodities exchange.
The latest legal action follows hot on the heels of a High Court order that Hong Kong Cyberport Management Co received on Tuesday ordering the eviction of HKMEx from its offices in Cyberport, Pok Fu Lam, over alleged unpaid rent of more than HK$6 million owed since March.
HKMEx, which took HK$500 million and three years to come on stream, was launched in May 2011 with trading in US-dollar-denominated gold products.
But the bourse handed its trading licence back to the Securities and Futures Commission three months ago, when it became clear it was no longer able to meet the regulatory requirement of having sufficient cash to cover nine months of operations.
Many of the 100 staff were reported in June to have started leaving, as hopes faded that new investors might take over the operation amid the police probes.
This month, Cheung was sued for HK$40 million over loans his company had taken out. He was the guarantor of two loans from Leung Chee-hon, director and shareholder of Sunley Holdings.
Nine people have been arrested in a police investigation into the firm's collapse.
