The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has suspended Mr Joey Lo Wai Hon, a former responsible officer (RO) of MTF Securities Limited (MTF), for four months from 30 September 2025 to 29 January 2026 for failing to properly manage credit risks and to identify and report suspicious trading patterns of clients (Notes 1 and 2).
The disciplinary action follows the SFC’s findings that MTF failed to maintain effective policies and procedures to ensure the proper management of credit risks and an effective ongoing monitoring system to identify, examine and report suspicious trading patterns, in breach of the Code of Conduct as well as other regulatory requirements on risk management and anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism (Notes 3 and 4). The SFC considers that MTF’s failures were attributable to Lo’s failure to discharge his duties as an RO and a member of the senior management of MTF at the material time (Note 5).
The SFC’s investigation found that shortly after three cash clients had opened their accounts and deposited only $10,000 with MTF in January 2021, MTF granted each of them a trading limit ranging from $4 million to $5 million at the request of MTF’s substantial shareholder, despite no application was received from the clients and no proper due diligence was done on those clients’ financial status (Note 6).
The SFC also found that the three clients utilised the trading limits to conduct transactions which were incommensurate with the financial situations of two of them. These transactions further demonstrated suspicious features which should arouse reasonable suspicion of potential market misconduct and money laundering. However, MTF failed to identify these transactions as suspicious, follow up on them or ensure that they were reported to both the Joint Financial Intelligence Unit and the SFC in a timely manner.
In deciding the disciplinary sanction against Lo, the SFC has taken into account that:
- MTF’s failures are serious as they could undermine public confidence in, and damage the integrity of, the market;
- a deterrent message needs to be sent to the market that such failures are not acceptable;
- Lo cooperated with the SFC in resolving the SFC’s concerns; and
- Lo has an otherwise clean disciplinary record.
Notes:
- Lo was accredited to MTF and approved to act as its RO for Type 1 (dealing in securities) regulated activity from 2 August 2018 to 20 April 2021. He was also MTF’s manager-in-charge for key business line from 2 August 2018 to 12 April 2021. Lo was a licensed representative of two other licensed corporations until 17 August 2025. His licence remains active as of 2 October 2025 but he is currently not accredited to any principal.
- MTF was licensed to carry on (among others) Type 1 (dealing in securities) regulated activity under the Securities and Futures Ordinance between 19 November 2004 and 14 June 2023.
- Code of Conduct for Persons Licensed by or Registered with the Securities and Futures Commission.
- Please refer to the Statement of Disciplinary Action for the relevant regulatory requirements.
- The SFC has also prohibited Ms Wong Lai Suen, a former RO and executive director of MTF, from re-entering the industry for six months. Please see the SFC’s press release dated 4 June 2025.
- A trading limit was the gross accumulated unsettled amount that MTF granted to, and expected to be settled by, an individual client on two trading days after the date of the transaction.
A copy of the Statement of Disciplinary Action is available on the SFC website
