Securities and Futures Commission imposes a whopping HK$497m in fines last year
Although the SFC imposed higher fines it also conducted fewer investigations, focusing instead on big cases involving corporate fraud and misconduct of listing sponsors, according to a study by law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
The Securities and Futures Commission imposed a record HK$497 million (US$63.7 million) in fines in 2017 even though it undertook fewer investigations, as the regulator made corporate fraud and misfeasance its top enforcement priority, according to a report by law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
The fines last year increased by 632 per cent compared to 2016, which was mainly because of the record HK$400 million penalty imposed on HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) in November, after the bank lost its appeal against a 2015 ruling for misconduct relating to the sale of structured products linked to Lehman Brothers. This was the largest ever fine imposed on a single case by the SFC since the regulator was set up in 1989.
Excluding the HSBC case, the fines still grew more than 40 per cent compared to 2016, Freshfields’ annual study of the SFC’s enforcement records showed.
The study showed the number of new investigations by the SFC decreased by 20 per cent to 414 cases, down from 515 in 2016, while it completed 591 investigations, up 36 per cent from 436 a year earlier.