Hong Kong's Securities And Futures Commission Bans Abbie Yip Ka Ying For 18 Months

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has banned Ms Abbie Yip Ka Ying, a former trader of BNP Paribas, Hong Kong Branch (BNP Paribas HK), from re-entering the industry for 18 months for breach of the Code of Conduct over her attempts to conceal a trade execution error (Notes 1 & 2).

The SFC found that Yip made multiple attempts to conceal an in-house foreign exchange spot trade execution error made by her on 24 June 2015 and the consequential loss of US$58,000 from the erroneous trade, including: 

• requesting a trader of BNP Paribas to split the loss over two days so that it would be more difficult for other staff to detect the loss;
• manually re-booking the loss in the wrong portfolio so that it would become less detectable;
• failing to include the loss in the requisite daily reports; and
• failing to report the incident and misleading her supervisor when questioned.

In failing to report the incident to management promptly, Yip failed to comply with the internal guidelines and procedures of BNP Paribas HK on the reporting and escalation of material operational incidents.

The SFC considered that Yip’s dishonest act called into question her fitness and properness to be a regulated person (Note 3).

In deciding the penalty, the SFC took into account all relevant circumstances, including Yip’s multiple attempts to conceal the incident, her more than 12 years of experience in the industry at the time of her misconduct, and her otherwise clean disciplinary record.

The case was referred to the SFC following an investigation by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA).

Notes:

1. Yip was a relevant individual engaged by BNP Paribas HK to carry on Type 1 (dealing in securities) regulated activity under the Securities and Futures Ordinance from 1 December 2006 to 21 July 2015.  Yip was also a licensed representative accredited to BNP Paribas Securities (Asia) Limited from 15 September 2011 to 21 July 2015.  Yip is currently neither registered with the HKMA nor licensed by the SFC.
2. Code of Conduct for Persons Licensed by or Registered with the Securities and Futures Commission (Code of Conduct).
3. General Principles 1 and 2 of the Code of Conduct require licensed or registered persons to act honestly, fairly, with due skill, care and diligence, and in the best interests of their clients and the integrity of the market, in conducting their business activities.