TWENTY-FOUR Hong Kong floor traders have been disciplined for rat trading or helping others commit this offence in the first five months of this year, twice the number for the whole of the last financial year.
Between April 1, 1995, and March 31, 1996, 12 licensed floor traders had their registrations suspended.
However, an audit carried out for Sunday Money revealed that between April 1 this year, 24 floor traders and/or dealers' representatives have already either had their registrations suspended or revoked by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) for either participating in rat trading or helping others.
In rat trading, broking staff profit at the expense of clients by using secret share accounts to exploit share price movements.
A total 38 prosecutions and disciplinary actions have been meted out by the SFC this financial year.
While rat trading was the most common offence, a string of traders and their companies have also been reprimanded for short-selling, conducting inefficient audit trails, unregistered dealing and failing to implement adequate internal monitoring controls.
