Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission has banned a licensed representative from re-entering the financial industry for 10 months.
The disciplinary action follows an investigation by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) which found that, from April 2010 to September 2013, Steven John Barrett concealed from his two former employers – Black’s Link Capital Limited and Myriad Asset Management Limited – his personal securities transactions.
Barrett instead conducted the transactions through the personal securities account of his friend, Fabiano Hugues Joseph Mascolo, a licensed representative of another firm at the material time.
Deliberate and dishonest actions
Barrett’s conduct circumvented the employee dealing policies of his employers and made it difficult for them to identify and monitor his personal trading activities to ensure there were no conflicts of interests or other malpractices arising from his personal trading activities.
The SFC considers Barrett’s conduct, which fell short of the standards required of him, calls into question his fitness and properness to be a licensed person.
In deciding the penalty, the SFC has taken into account that Barrett’s concealment of his personal trading activities from his employers was deliberate and dishonest.
