Hong Kong court rejects US short-seller Andrew Left’s application against tribunal ruling

The Court of Appeal in Hong Kong has dismissed US short-seller Andrew Left’s application to appeal against a ruling against him by the Market Misconduct Tribunal for publishing a false report on Evergrande Real Estate Group in 2012, according to a statement issued by the Securities and Futures Commission on Friday.

The failure to get permission to appeal means Left, of Citron Research, now faces the penalty handed down to him by the tribunal, which includes a five-year ban on trading on the Hong Kong market. He must also repay HK$1.6 million in trading profits and about HK$4 million in legal expenses, and will face criminal prosecution if he breaks Hong Kong rules again.

“The Court of Appeal said that Left’s application was made out of time and that, even if the application were within time, it had no reasonable prospects of success and was wholly without merit,” the SFC statement said.

The Market Misconduct Tribunal in August found Left “culpable of disclosing false and/or misleading information inducing transactions under the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) by publishing a research report on Evergrande Real Estate Group Limited in June 2012.” The tribunal imposed the penalty in October last year.