Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission continues to push its insider trading case against U.S. hedge fund Tiger Asia and its two senior executives. The case, which had been languishing since 2009, got back on track in May 2013 when Hong Kong's highest court rejected Tiger Asia's argument that the SFC did not have the authority to pursue the case. Tiger Asia had argued that the SFC could not bring the case because Tiger Asia had no physical presence in Hong Kong. 

In December 2013, Hong Kong's Court of First Instance ordered Tiger Asia to pay HK$45.27 million (approximately US$5.8 million) to the 1,800 investors who suffered from their insider dealing in shares of Bank of China and of China Construction Bank in 2008 and 2009. Now the SFC wants Hong Kong's Market Misconduct Tribunal to impose a "cold shoulder" order on Tiger Asia, its founder Bill Hwang Sung-kook, and its head of trading, Raymond Park. The proposed "cold shoulder" order would ban the two men from trading in the local market for five years.

The South China Morning Post reports that the lawyer for the two executives argued that the penalty was too harsh given the prior order to pay HK$45.27 million, and would amount to being punished twice in Hong Kong.

Topics