The SFC said in a statement today (6 January) that Chan was sentenced by the District Court on 2 February 2024 to 20 months’ imprisonment after his convictions for three counts of fraud and one count of attempted fraud.

The Court found that Chan was assigned to a branch of SCB in Wan Chai at the material time, and his job duties included the promotion of insurance products issued by external insurers to the bank’s clients.

Between January and March 2019, Chan assisted two clients in taking out insurance policies with an external insurer. Between August and September 2019, Chan induced one of them to transfer US$52,300 to a bank account connected to him. He also induced the other client to transfer over HK$420,000 to the same bank account during the same period.

Chan did so on the pretence that the transfers would be used to settle premium payments with their insurer. He subsequently attempted to cancel the clients’ insurance policies by falsely representing to the insurer that they wished to do so.

The SFC considers that Chan is not fit and proper to be a regulated person due to his criminal convictions.

Chan was a relevant individual engaged by SCB to carry on Type 1 (dealing in securities) and Type 4 (advising on securities) regulated activities under the Securities and Futures Ordinance between 1 September 2018 and 16 October 2019.

Chan is currently not registered with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority or licensed by the SFC.

In a statement, the SFC said Tse, the principal of the law firm, O Tse & Co., pleaded guilty to one count of contravention of the secrecy provision and was fined $25,000. He was also ordered to pay the SFC’s investigation costs.

The court heard that Tse, acting as the legal representative of an individual, received confidential information regarding a restriction notice that the SFC had disclosed to that individual. The confidential information was subject to the secrecy provision under the SFO. After receiving the confidential information, Tse disclosed the information to two other individuals on 9 February 2021.

This marks the first occasion in which a Hong Kong practicing solicitor has been convicted of an offence for contravening the secrecy provision under the SFO. The investigation into this breach originated from the SFC’s investigations of suspected ramp-and-dump cases concerning a sophisticated syndicate.

SFC executive director of enforcement, Christopher Wilson, said: “Legal professionals should maintain the highest standard of professional conduct as any wrongdoing while acting on behalf of their clients may jeopardise the integrity of our investigation.”

The individual is a subject of SFC’s investigations of suspected ramp-and-dump cases. The restriction notice prohibits the relevant brokerage firm from dealing with or processing certain assets held in the trading account of that individual.

The disclosure by Tse was in violation of sections 378(7) and 378(11) of the SFO. A person who breaches the secrecy obligation is liable to prosecution and upon conviction on indictment to a maximum fine of $1m and imprisonment for up to two years or upon summary conviction, to a maximum fine of $100,000 and imprisonment for up to six months. A regulated person may, in addition, be disciplined.

A social media ramp-and-dump scam is a form of stock market manipulation where fraudsters use different means to “ramp” up the share price of a listed company and then induce investors via social media platforms to purchase the shares they “dump” at an artificially high price.

In a statement today (2 September) Lam was sentenced by the Court of First Instance on 7 November 2023 to imprisonment of seven years after his convictions of two counts of theft and two counts of dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence.

The court found that between 13 March and 27 October 2020, when Lam was overseeing a project in UBS to compensate clients who had been overcharged in previous transactions, he exploited his access to UBS’s system to alter the information of rightful recipients under the project and made at least 46 payments, totalling US$1,875,030.64, to his own accounts or for his own gain.

The court also found that between March and December 2020, various bank accounts controlled by Lam had received cash deposits from UBS and other sources, a substantial sum of which was transferred out within a short period of time, and the monies being dealt with were all connected to Lam’s theft of money from UBS.

Under changes to take effect on 1 June 2023, all centralised virtual asset trading platforms carrying on business in Hong Kong or actively marketing to Hong Kong investors will need to be licensed by the SFC.

The SFC’s proposed regulatory requirements for virtual asset trading platforms are based on the regulatory requirements of the existing regime under the Securities and Futures Ordinance and are comparable to those for licensed securities brokers and automated trading venues.

The regulator said that operators of virtual asset trading platforms which plan to apply for a licence, including pre-existing platforms, should begin to review and revise their systems and controls to prepare for the regime. Those which do not plan to apply for a licence “should start preparing for an orderly closure of their business in Hong Kong”, it added.

The SFC has also taken the opportunity to propose modifications to some requirements of the existing regime. As part of the consultation, the SFC is seeking views particularly on whether to allow licensed platform operators to serve retail investors, and if so, the measures to be implemented in addition to the proposed range of investor protection measures, which include ensuring suitability in onboarding clients and token admission.

Julia Leung, SFC chief executive, said: “As has been our philosophy since 2018, our proposed requirements for virtual asset trading platforms include robust measures to protect investors, following the ‘same business, same risks, same rules’ principle.

“In light of the recent turmoil and the collapse of some leading crypto trading platforms around the world, there is clear consensus among regulators globally for regulation in the virtual asset space to ensure investors are adequately protected and key risks are effectively managed.”

The UK-based Sipp provider has named Peter Docherty as interim chief executive and executive director of the group with immediate effect, pending regulatory approval.

This means that current executive chairman David Barral will revert back to the role of non-executive chairman.

Docherty was most recently chief executive and managing director of the Embark Platform, while previously serving as chief executive and risk officer of Alliance Trust Savings.

This comes as wrap platform Nucleus agreed to acquire Curtis Banks Group for a total equity value of £242m ($287m, €273m).

GSB Capital

Dean Kemble has been promoted to chief commercial officer at the Dubai-headquartered advice firm.

He joined the business in October 2021 as managing partner. Prior to that, he spent over seven years in senior roles at Friends Provident International.

SFC

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission has promoted Keith Choy, current senior director of intermediaries, to interim head of intermediaries.

He will oversee the intermediaries division pending the appointment of an executive director to head the division, following Julia Leung’s promotion to chief executive of the regulator.

Choy has been at the watchdog since 1998.

Sentient International

The Isle of Man-based trust services provider has hired David Solly as managing director.

He joins from Dohle Corporate Services, where he spent nearly three years as a business development manager.

First Sentier Investors

The investment firm has recruited Jane Daniel as chief risk officer, based in London.

She was previously at Aegon Asset Management, where she served as global chief risk and compliance officer.

Carmignac

The French asset manager has named Lloyd McAllister as head of sustainable investment.

He joins from Newton Investment Management, where he worked for four years, most recently as head of ESG research.

Edentree Investment Management

The UK-based asset manager has made two senior promotions within its distribution team.

Adrian Judge will take on the role of head of international distribution; he was previously head of wholesale and FIG distribution.

Regional sales director James Tomlinson will become head of wholesale distribution for the UK.

Nucleus Financial

Chris Macdonald has been promoted to business development director, key accounts, at the adviser platform.

He most recently was business development director for London, and has been at the company since 2006, when he joined as an IFA account manager.

Hoxton Capital Management

Peter Shaw has taken on the role of senior wealth manager at the Dubai-based advice firm.

He joins from Genesis Insurance Brokers (previously Goodwill Insurance Brokers), where he served as chief executive and general manager for just under two years.

LGT Wealth Management

The wealth management arm of LGT has promoted Finn Hunt to business development manager.

He joined the company in July 2021 as a trainee.