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The Eastern Magistrates’ Court has convicted Mr Hui Kwok Piu and fined him $231,000 for illegal short selling in the shares of Coslight Technology International Group Limited (Coslight) (Note 1).
Hui pleaded guilty and was also ordered to pay the Securities and Futures Commission’s (SFC) investigation costs.
The Court heard that on 33 occasions between 3 and 25 August 2015, Hui placed orders to sell Coslight shares through his personal trading account at his employer China Goldjoy Securities Limited (formerly known as China Yinsheng Securities Limited) when he did not have sufficient quantities of the shares to sell. Hui later bought back shares to cover his short sales and in doing so, made a total profit of approximately $226,307 (Note 2).
Notes:
- Hui is, and was at all material times, licensed to carry out Type 1 (dealing in securities) regulated activity under the the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) and is accredited to China Goldjoy Securities Limited (formerly known as China Yinsheng Securities Limited).
- Section 170(1) of the SFO prohibits the sale of securities when the person does not have a presently exercisable and unconditional right to sell them.
