Hong Kong's Securities And Futures Commission Bans Li Bo For Eight Months

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has banned Mr Li Bo, a former employee of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC), from re-entering the industry for eight months from 9 June 2017 to 8 February 2018 for breaching the SFC’s Code of Conduct (Note 1).

The disciplinary action follows an SFC investigation which found that during the period from April 2014 to September 2015, Li breached HSBC’s staff personal trading policy by failing to disclose to his employer his personal trading account and beneficial interests in the securities accounts of his friend.  He also failed to obtain prior approval for his securities trading transactions in his friend’s accounts which deprived his employer the opportunity to monitor his trading activities (Note 2).  

The SFC considers Li’s conduct, which fell short of the standards required of him under the Code of Conduct, calls into question his fitness and properness to be a regulated person.

In deciding the penalty, the SFC took into account that Li co-operated with the SFC by consenting to the disciplinary action and was remorseful for his conduct.

Notes:

1. Li was a relevant individual engaged by HSBC to carry on Type 1 (dealing in securities), Type 4 (advising on securities) and Type 6 (advising on corporate finance) regulated activities under the Securities and Futures Ordinance.  Li is currently neither registered with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority nor licensed by the SFC.
2. Paragraph 12.2 of the Code of Conduct for Persons Licensed by or Registered with the SFC requires licensed corporations to implement procedures and policies on employee trading and to actively monitor the trading activities in their employees’ accounts and their related accounts.