Lai See | SFC and Department of Justice like a divorced couple

We all know that relations between the prosecutions division of the Department of Justice and the Securities and Futures Commission were, shall we say, somewhat strained during the latter stages of Kevin Zervos' sojourn as director of public prosecutions.

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Published: 5:01am, 30 Jan 2014

We all know that relations between the prosecutions division of the Department of Justice and the Securities and Futures Commission were, shall we say, somewhat strained during the latter stages of Kevin Zervos' sojourn as director of public prosecutions.

The SFC, it will be recalled, late last year accused the justice department of failing to prosecute "serious and complex" cases in the higher courts, where tougher sentences can be imposed. Zervos, who has since become a high court judge, then hit back, saying none of the cases concerned had justified a trial in the higher courts.

The matter was raised again recently at the SFC's regulatory forum. David Webb, a shareholder activist and editor of webb-site.com was on a panel that included the current DPP, Keith Yeung Kar-hung, and was moderated by the SFC's head of enforcement, Mark Steward. Webb asked how things stood now between the prosecutions division and the SFC. The consensus was that relations had improved significantly.

Quizzed by the press afterwards, the silver-tongued Webb said they could hardly be worse than before. "They're like a divorced couple. They're now back on speaking terms."

.css-1m2rp1p{color:#34b8b5;}Lai See | SFC and Department of Justice like a divorced couple

Lai See | SFC and Department of Justice like a divorced couple