The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has suspended the registration of a floor trader for three years after he was found guilty of several trading malpractices.
Thomas Cheng Lung-hang, a securities dealer's representative with Okachi Investments (HK), was found to have engaged in preferential trading and concealing personal dealing from his employer.
The illegal deals took place from January 1993 until February 1994 when Mr Cheng was employed by Okachi as a floor trader. During the course of the illegal trading, Mr Cheng made profits of at least $800,000.
The deals took place through his brother's account maintained at Cheer Pearl Investment, a small Hong Kong brokerage.
Preferential trading - also known as 'buying insurance' - involves the booking of the most profitable trades to a set of favoured accounts.
According to the SFC, the profits were gained at the expense of Okachi clients, and in some instances also meant that the clients of other brokers were denied best execution.