The Securities and Futures Commission in Hong Kong has banned a former HSBC employee from re-entering the industry for life after his actions led to substantial losses to clients.
Lam Yuk Wai who was an employee of HSBC Broking Securities (Asia), HSBC Broking Futures (Asia), HSBC Broking Futures (Hong Kong) and HSBC Broking Forex (Asia) (collectively, HSBC Broking), carried out numerous unauthorized transactions.
The penal action follows an investigation by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) which found that between September 2011 and July 2015, Lam had conducted over 100 unauthorized transactions in the accounts of seven clients, causing them to suffer substantial losses.
False and Misleading Account Information
The probe also revealed Lam had deceived his clients by providing them with false and misleading account information which substantially overstated the equity value of their accounts, with an intent to conceal the extent of their investment losses.
He also attempted to conceal his misconduct from HSBC Broking by creating deceptive telephone calls in which he pretended to engage in conversations with clients and take order instructions from them.
Multi-Million Compensation Shelled Out
The SFC considers that Lam’s dishonesty calls into serious question his fitness and properness to be a licensed person and decided to ban him for life.
HSBC Broking has reported his misconduct to the Police.
As a result of Lam’s misconduct, HSBC Broking had paid over $70 million to the affected clients to compensate for their losses.
