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The Market Misconduct Tribunal (MMT) today fined Mayer Holdings Limited (Mayer) and nine of its current and former senior executives a total of $10.2 million after they were found to have failed to disclose inside information as soon as reasonably practicable as required under the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) (Notes 1 & 2).
The MMT also imposed disqualification orders against the nine current and former senior executives of Mayer: former chairman and executive director, Mr Hsiao Ming-chih; former company secretary and financial controller, Mr Tommy Chan Lai Yin; former executive directors, Mr Lai Yueh-hsing, Mr Chiang Jen-Chin and Mr Xue Wenge; former independent non-executive directors, Mr Huang Jui-hsiang, Mr Lin Sheng-bin and Mr Alvin Chiu; and current non-executive director, Mr Li Deqiang.
Tommy Chan and Lai Yueh-hsing, who were fined $1.5 million each, were disqualified by the MMT from being a director or being involved in the management of a listed corporation or any other specified corporation for 20 months (Notes 3 & 4).
The MMT further ordered that:
- Mayer and the nine current and former senior executives pay the SFC’s investigation and legal costs, as well as the costs of the MMT proceedings;
- Mayer appoint a SFC-approved independent professional adviser to review its procedures for compliance with the corporate disclosure regime; and
- the nine current and former senior executives attend a SFC-approved training programme on the corporate disclosure regime, directors’ duties and corporate governance.
Notes:
- The statutory corporate disclosure laws under Part XIVA of the SFO came into effect on 1 January 2013. They require listed companies to disclose inside information to the public as soon as reasonably practicable and their officers to take all reasonable measures to ensure that proper safeguards exist to prevent the breach of the disclosure requirements.
- For more details, please see the SFC’s press releases dated 11 March 2016 and 7 February 2017.
- MMT also recommended the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants to take disciplinary action against Mayer’s former company secretary and financial controller Tommy Chan.
- Mayer and the other seven current and former executives were fined $900,000 each. These seven current and former executives were disqualified by the MMT from being a director or being involved in the management of a listed corporation or any other specified corporation for 12 months.
- The MMT’s report is available on its website (www.mmt.gov.hk).
