The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong has commenced proceedings in the Market Misconduct Tribunal (MMT) against Mr Sui Guangyi, former chairman and non-executive director of Ding Yi Feng Holdings Group International Limited, two corporate entities and 28 other suspects for alleged manipulation of the shares of Smartac International Holdings Limited.

The SFC alleges that between 31 October 2018 and 11 March 2019, Sui and the other 30 suspects conducted manipulative trading in Smartac shares to push up the price and turnover, which resulted in creating a false or misleading appearance of active trading in and the price of Smartac shares. Matched trades between the suspects’ securities accounts constituted a notable portion of the trading volume of Smartac shares during the material period.

The substantial increase in Smartac’s share price also significantly contributed to an investment gain by Ding Yi Feng as Smartac shares accounted for 21.68% of its gross assets as of 31 December 2018.

The SFC had issued restriction notices to freeze securities accounts linked to the suspected market manipulation of Smartac shares. The restriction notices remain in force.