Hong Kong’s SFC orders five brokers to freeze accounts linked to suspected market manipulation
The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) today announces that it has issued restriction notices to five brokers regarding client accounts linked to suspected market manipulation.
The five brokers that got the notices are: AMC Wanhai Securities Limited, Eddid Securities and Futures Limited, Freeman Securities Limited, Realord Asia Pacific Securities Limited and Solomon JFZ (Asia) Holdings Limited. The notices prohibiting them from dealing with or processing certain assets held in 12 trading accounts related to suspected market manipulation in the shares of a company listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited between September 2020 and October 2020.
The restriction notices prohibit the brokers, without the SFC’s prior written consent, from disposing of or dealing with, or assisting, counselling or procuring another person to dispose of or deal with, any assets in any way in the trading accounts up to a certain amount, including:
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entering into transactions in respect of any securities;
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processing any withdrawals or transfers of securities and/or cash or any transfers of money arising from the disposal of securities;
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disposing of or dealing with any securities and/or cash on the instructions of any authorized person of the accounts or any person acting on their behalf; and
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assisting another person to dispose of or deal with any relevant property in a specified manner.
The brokers are also required to notify the regulator if they receive any of these instructions.
The SFC considers that the issue of the restriction notices is desirable in the interest of the investing public or in the public interest.
This is not the first such order issued by the Hong Kong regulator. To take a recent example, in December 2020, the SFC issued a restriction notice to CNI Securities Group Limited (CNI), prohibiting it from dealing with or processing certain assets held in three client accounts, which are related to suspected market manipulation in the shares of a company listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited.