SFC prepared to prosecute over Asia Securities share violations

THE Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) inspector in the Asia Securities International share probe has concluded that prosecution of the key figure, Chan Chun-on, should be considered if he ever returns to Hong Kong.

Stuart Crosby also concluded that prosecution of others for infringement of the Securities Disclosure Ordinance was possible but the likelihood of a successful court action was low.

Instead, he said the referral to the SFC Takeovers and Mergers Panel was appropriate.

There was no need to make any further use of the Financial Secretary's powers because ''the true ownership of the 54.9 million shares is now clear''.

There remained 39,000 shares where true ownership was unclear but ''they are on their own too few to justify making orders''.

Regarding Mr Chan, the report said under a previous government investigation the executive director of Allied Group until March 1992 ''was uncomfortable in a regulated environment and that Mr Chan's character and way of doing business may not have been suited to the new regulatory environment, declarations of interest and the like''.

Mr Crosby concluded in some instances beneficial ownership of the shares should have been made known under the Securities Disclosure Ordinance as they amounted to more than 10 per cent of the issued share capital - the minimum threshold for disclosure.