The Securities and Futures Commission in Hong Kong has banned a trader from re-entering the industry for three years.
The disciplinary action follows an SFC investigation which found that between October 2009 and June 2011, Alice Yim Ping conducted trades for a client without obtaining his authorisation while she was managing his securities account at KGI Asia on a non-discretionary basis.
Yim also used the client’s password to access his securities account to conduct trades for him and did not maintain any records of his instructions for the orders she placed in his securities account.
Inappropriate Actions
The SFC took the view that Yim’s failure in seeking her client’s authorization before conducting trades for him amounted to a breach of the Code of Conduct, and called into question her character, reliability, and fitness and properness to be a licensed person.
Yim’s conduct in the handling of the securities account by accessing it with her client’s password and her failure in maintaining records of client’s instructions demonstrated her failure to act with due skill, care and diligence and in the best interests of the client.
All Relevant Circumstances
In deciding the penalty, the SFC took into account all relevant circumstances, including Yim’s abuse of the trust that her client placed in her and her otherwise clean disciplinary record.
Yim was licensed under the Securities and Futures Ordinance to carry on Type 1 (dealing in securities), Type 4 (advising on securities) and Type 9 (asset management) regulated activities and was accredited to Target Capital Management as a responsible officer between April 2007 and April 2014. She is currently not accredited to any licensed corporation.
