Hong Kong

SFC bans former Black Marble Securities Representative

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has announced that it has banned Lai Wing Fat, a former licensed representative of Black Marble Securities Limited, from re-entering the industry for 20 months.

Lai has been banned for breaches of the SFC’s Code of Conduct, the regulator said in a press release.

The disciplinary action follows an SFC investigation which found that between August 2016 and June 2017, Lai effected transactions in a client’s account on a discretionary basis without obtaining the client’s prior written authorisation.  Lai also effected discretionary transactions in the accounts of three other clients without their prior written authorisations.

The SFC also found that Lai had failed to explain the Chinese account opening documents and risk disclosure statements to the client to ensure the client understood the content and relevant risks before signing the documents, even though Lai was aware that the client had difficulty understanding the Chinese documents.

The SFC considers that Lai had failed to act with due skill, care and diligence and in the best interests of the clients.  The absence of written authorizations for discretionary transactions was prejudicial to clients’ interests as Lai’s employer was prevented from monitoring and supervising the operation of the accounts and the clients were deprived of protection against the risk of unauthorized trades carried out in their accounts.

In deciding the sanction, the SFC took into account all relevant circumstances, including Lai’s otherwise clean disciplinary record.