Hong Kong's financial regulator has banned a trader from re-entering the industry for eight years for breach of the Code of Conduct.
Ma Yu Lung, a former representative of Sun Hung Kai Investment Services (SHKIS), has been banned from 26 January 2017 to 25 January 2025.
The Securities and Futures Commission's (SFC) investigation found that on numerous occasions between September 2009 and February 2010, Ma accepted order instructions from unknown and unauthorised individuals to trade securities listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.
He colluded with SHKIS’ account holders to pretend the order instructions originated from them when this was not the case.
Dishonest Conduct
Ma allowed execution of trades flowing from these order instructions in the securities trading accounts of others at SHKIS and concealed the identities of those individuals who originally gave the relevant order instructions.
In deciding the sanction, the SFC took into account all relevant circumstances, including the seriousness of Ma’s misconduct and that a strong deterrent message to the industry is necessary.
Not a Fit and Proper Person
Ma was licensed under the Securities and Futures Ordinance to carry on Type 1 (dealing in securities), Type 2 (dealing in futures contracts) and Type 3 (leveraged foreign exchange trading) regulated activities, and was accredited to SHKIS, Sun Hung Kai Commodities and Sun Hung Kai Forex until June 2013.
Ma’s conduct was dishonest and cast serious doubts on his fitness and properness to be a licensed person because as a SFC-licensed representative, he should be satisfied on reasonable grounds the identity of the person ultimately responsible for originating the instruction in relation to a transaction and should not effect a transaction unless the identity of the person originating the order is satisfied.
Ma is currently not licensed by the SFC.
