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The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has suspended Mr Chan Hung Nin for 15 months from 8 August 2014 to 7 November 2015 for breaching the Code of Conduct. (Notes 1 & 2).
The disciplinary action follows an investigation into Chan’s handling of a client’s account at Celestial Securities Limited (Celestial).
The SFC found that between 2 April 2011 and 21 August 2012, Chan:
- operated the client’s account on a discretionary basis without written authorization; and
- coached the client to make false representations to Celestial.
When conducting periodic checks on trades without telephone recordings of order placing and confirmation, Celestial identified six such instances in the client’s account. On four instances where the client could be reached, the client falsely represented to Celestial that he had placed the relevant orders by calling Chan’s mobile phone.
The SFC found that Chan had asked the client to make such false representations to Celestial in order to conceal the fact that he was operating the account on a discretionary basis.
In deciding the sanction, the SFC took into account all relevant circumstances including:
- Chan’s act of coaching the client to lie to Celestial is deliberate and dishonest;
- Chan is still licensed and serving clients;
- Chan had more than 20 years of experience in the industry at the time of his misconduct; and
- Chan has an otherwise clean disciplinary record.
Notes:
- Chan is licensed under the Securities and Futures Ordinance to carry on Type 1 (dealing in securities) and Type 2 (dealing in futures contracts) regulated activities, and is accredited to Celestial Securities Limited and Celestial Commodities Limited.
- Code of Conduct for Persons Licensed by or Registered with the Securities and Futures Commission
- A copy of the Statement of Disciplinary Action in relation to the matter is available on the SFC website.
