The Court of First Instance has varied the sentence imposed on Mr Lo Kam Chung for carrying on an unlicensed business of advising on securities.
Lo was convicted on one count of carrying on an unlicensed securities business between April and November 2010. The court found that Lo established a private discussion group on Facebook in the name of “Peter Sun” and offered securities advice to subscribers who paid fees of $200-$300 per month. He was fined $20,000 and sentenced to 80 hours of community service to be completed within 12 months (Note 1).
He appealed his sentence and the Court of First Instance last Friday varied the fine by reducing it to $10,000 but upheld the community service order (Note 2).
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) identified three subscribers who paid subscription fees of $200-$300 per month to “Peter Sun” but did not follow his advice. The SFC detected the unlicensed business on Facebook before any member of the investing public suffered any losses relying on his unlicensed advice.
The order for Lo to pay the SFC’s investigation costs remains unchanged.
Notes:
1. Please see SFC’s press release dated 15 December 2011 regarding the conviction.
2. The judgment is available on the Judiciary website at http://www.judiciary.gov.hk.
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Hong Kong's Securities And Futures Commission: Court Varies Sentence Against Unlicensed Securities Advisor
Date 14/05/2012