Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission doubled fines on industry participants in 2020 to register a record-high amount.
The SFC imposed fines totaling HK$2.8 billion (US$361 million), according to law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which began compiling such data in 2014.
This represents a 117 percent increase from 2019 and 32 percent higher than the sum collected from 2015 to 2019.
Goldman Sachs and 1MDB
The vast majority of the SFC's record sum – HK$2.71 billion – was collected from Goldman Sachs (Asia) over its involvement in the 1MDB scandal.
According to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, continued pursuit of large fines is to be expected of the SFC, which has historically issued lower fines compared to regulators in the U.K. (Financial Conduct Authority) or the U.S. (Securities and Exchange Commission).
The two regulators collected 200 million British pounds ($278.5 million) and $4.68 billion last year, respectively, according to published data.
