Hong Kong regulator seeks court order to disqualify former Far East executives

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) is seeking a court order to disqualify former Far East Holdings International chief executive Duncan Chiu and two senior staff for improper fund transfers made more than a decade ago.

The order, if approved by the court, could bar the trio from holding directorships or managing a company for up to 15 years.

The regulator alleged that the three, including Chiu’s brother Derek Chiu, a former Far East non-executive director and financial controller Michael Lui Hung-kwong, had made improper transfers worth a total of HK$61 million (US$7.8 million) in 2007, according to a SFC statement on Tuesday afternoon.

They had conducted the company’s business or affairs in a manner involving defalcation, misfeasance or other misconduct, resulting in Far East’s shareholders not being given all the information as they might reasonably expect and unfairly prejudicial to Far East’s shareholders, it said.

The Chiu brothers were no longer directors of Far East Holdings, according to the company’s 2017 annual report, but they still held director positions in the company’s subsidiaries.

The SFC’s action followed an investigation into the alleged transfers from the company’s bank accounts to the personal bank accounts of the then chairman Deacon Chiu Te-ken – the Chiu brothers’ late father – to subscribe for initial public offer (IPO) shares on behalf of Far East, the statement said.