By  Jill Wong and Amanda Beattie King & Wood Mallesons’ Dispute Resolution Group, Hong Kong Office

The Securities and Futures Commission (“SFC”) has been steadily getting more creative in the use of its powers and we can expect them to continue to do so, given their recent success in obtaining compensation for investors for financial misstatements in a company’s prospectus. The SFC successfully obtained a court order under section 213 of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (“SFO”), that Hontex International Holdings Co. Ltd. (“Hontex”) pay back more than HK$1 billion raised in its 2009 initial public offering. This will give further impetus to the SFC’s push to improve the quality of disclosure in prospectuses and their controversial proposal – the consultation period for which has been extended to end of July – to make sponsors (who advise companies to a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange) criminally liable for faulty prospectuses. And finally, a sting in the tail – what will this mean for financial institutions with self-reporting obligations and their new obligations, effective December 2012, to self-report suspected market misconduct by their clients?Continue Reading Combating Market Misconduct – Section 213 strikes again…and where or what else will it strike?

作者: 黄紫玲  Amanda Beattie 金杜律师事务所争议解决组

香港证券及期货事务监察委员会(“香港证监会”)开始越来越有创见性地行使其权力;而且,考虑到他们的工作已初显成效,投资者也因此成功就公司招股章程中的失实财务陈述获得相应赔偿,相信香港证监会将会延续其工作方针。

香港证监会已依据香港《证券及期货条例》(“《证券及期货条例》”)第213条的规定成功取得一项法庭命令,要求洪良国际控股有限公司(“洪良”)退还其在2009年首次公开发行中募集的10亿多港元。而与此同时,香港证监会还在努力提升招股章程中所作披露的质量,并提出具有争议的方案,欲就不实招股章程追究保荐人(即,那些为在香港联交所上市的公司提供咨询服务的保荐人)的刑事责任,虽然该方案的磋商期限已推迟至7月末,但上述法庭命令仍将对香港证监会实现其相关努力起推动作用。然而,这对于负有自行呈报义务和新义务的金融机构来说最终意味着什么呢?(前述新义务是指那些即将在2012年12月生效、且要求金融机构自行呈报其客户可疑的市场失当行为的义务。)
Continue Reading 打击市场失当行为 – 又见第213条 …它的打击对象将是什么?