A former trader from Citi has won an unfair dismissal case in Hong Kong related to her termination in 2019.
Cindy Lui, a former vice president and equity sales trader at Citigroup, has won an unfair dismissal case against the US bank, according to a «Bloomberg» report citing legal proceedings. Lui was part of a team of Hong Kong-based traders who were fired more than five years ago for misrepresenting the nature of trading positions to a client.
This followed a probe by the Securities and Futures Commission which found problems with the bank’s communication of certain stock positions to clients, mislabelling so-called «indications of interest» in trading demand. This later led to a HK$348.3 million ($44.8 million) fine by the regulator against the bank over «pervasive dishonest behavior».
Lui claims that she did not deliberately misrepresent trades nor client positions and that the bank had provided erroneous training and limited guidance on such matters. She also said she was denied opportunities to work at other major investment banks after being fired by Citi, resulting in jobs that paid significantly less.
Labor Tribunal Ruling
In addition to ruling that Citi had failed to justify the summary dismissal of Lui, Hong Kong’s Labor Tribunal also awarded her with pension benefits and contractual due to her if she had been terminated with notice. Lui worked at Citi for 12 years and lost about HK$2 million in accrued pension benefits when she was terminated, alongside her 2018 bonus.
«We are reviewing the Tribunal’s decision and will make further comment in due course,» a spokesperson for Citigroup said.
