I noted here previously that as part of an insider trading case against hedge fund Tiger Asia, Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission was seeking a court order to ban Tiger Asia from trading in the country--the first time that the SFC had ever sought such a ban. The case was derailed for several years but a ruling this May has it back on track, and the SFC revived its charges this week against the firm, its founder, and two executives. 

The case has dragged on so long that Tiger Asia has already closed and returned money to its outside investors. In 2009, when the SFC first brought the case, the hedge fund argued, successfully, that the SFC could not bring the case or bar its principals without a tribunal or criminal court filing--which was itself impossible because Tiger Asia had no physical presence in Hong Kong. In May 2013, however, Hong Kong's highest court ruled that the SFC did have the authority to pursue the case without a tribunal or criminal-court finding. Following that ruling, the SFC sued the defendants again this week, seeking a bar and potential monetary penalties.

The SFC alleges that Tiger Asia made HK$9.1 million (about $1.2 million) by selling short in advance of a Dec. 31, 2008 placement of Bank of China shares and HK$32.1 million by selling short before a Jan. 7, 2009 placement of China Construction Bank stock. Bloomberg reports that Tiger Asia previously settled U.S. civil and criminal charges related to the the same offenses in December 2012.

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