Hong Kong's Securities And Futures Commission Bans Alice Yim Ping For Three Years

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has banned Ms Alice Yim Ping from re-entering the industry for three years from 20 February 2016 to 19 February 2019 (Note 1).

The disciplinary action follows an SFC investigation which found that between October 2009 and June 2011, Yim conducted trades for a client without obtaining his authorization while she was managing his securities account at KGI Asia Limited on a non-discretionary basis.  

Yim also used the client’s password to access his securities account to conduct trades for him and did not maintain any records of his instructions for the orders she placed in his securities account.   

The SFC is of the view that Yim’s failure in seeking her client’s authorization before conducting trades for him amounted to a breach of the Code of Conduct, and called into question her character, reliability, and fitness and properness to be a licensed person (Note 2).

Yim’s conduct in the handling of the securities account by accessing it with her client’s password and her failure in maintaining records of client’s instructions demonstrated her failure to act with due skill, care and diligence and in the best interests of the client (Note 3).

In deciding the penalty, the SFC took into account all relevant circumstances, including Yim’s abuse of the trust that her client placed in her and her otherwise clean disciplinary record.

Notes:

1. Yim was licensed under the Securities and Futures Ordinance to carry on Type 1 (dealing in securities), Type 4 (advising on securities) and Type 9 (asset management) regulated activities and was accredited to Target Capital Management Limited as a responsible officer between April 2007 and April 2014. She is currently not accredited to any licensed corporation.
2. Paragraph 7.1 of the Code of Conduct for Persons Licensed by or Registered with the SFC (Code of Conduct) provides that a licensed person should not effect a transaction for a client unless before the transaction is effected, the client, or a person designated by the client, has specifically authorized the transaction.
3. General Principle 2 of the Code of Conduct requires a licensed person to act with due skill, care and diligence, in the best interests of his clients and the integrity of the market when conducting his business activities.