In a landmark ruling, a Hong Kong court yesterday backed the securities watchdog's efforts to make US-based hedge fund Tiger Asia Management cough up the profit it made from alleged insider trading.
The Appeal Court confirmed the Securities and Futures Commission could independently seek civil remedies from Tiger Asia.
It decided there was no need to wait for a criminal prosecution or a Market Misconduct Tribunal ruling on whether the hedge fund has committed insider trading before it can seek claims on behalf of investors from the fund.
The SFC alleges that Tiger Asia and its three executives are guilty of insider trading and market manipulation in 2008 and 2009 ahead of share placement announcements by China Construction Bank and Bank of China, pocketing a profit of HK$38.5 million.
Tiger Asia denied the allegation in a letter to investors last year.
High Court Judge Jonathan Harris last year rejected an SFC bid to freeze HK$38.5 million worth of assets belonging to Tiger Asia and its founder Bill Hwang Sung-kook, managing director and head of trading Raymond Park and trader William Tomita.
He said there should first be a criminal prosecution or a Market Misconduct Tribunal ruling on the SFC allegation.
