The lengthy legal battle between the Securities and Futures Commission and US hedge fund Tiger Asia Management took a new twist yesterday, when the regulator referred the alleged insider dealing case to the Market Misconduct Tribunal.
The SFC alleges Tiger Asia and three executives are guilty of insider trading and market manipulation in 2008 and 2009 before share-placement announcements by China Construction Bank (CCB) and Bank of China (BOC). The trio are founder Bill Hwang Sung-kook, managing director and head of trading Raymond Park and trader William Tomita.
According to an SFC statement yesterday, Tiger Asia - under the management of the three executives - was invited by other bankers to subscribe to a share placement of BOC and CCB shares and they took advantage by short selling shares of the two lenders before the placement news was made public.
The tribunal hearing follows a separate court action by the SFC in which the commission sought a court order to ensure Tiger Asia and the trio pay HK$38.5 million - the profit they made from the illegal trades - to investors whose trades opposed theirs.
Tiger Asia opposed the order and the legal battle dragged on until May when the Court of Final Appeal confirmed the SFC has the right to sue for investors to seek compensation.