The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong has banned Mr Cheung Ngai Yi, a former relevant individual of Hang Seng Bank, Limited (HSB), from re-entering the industry for life following his criminal conviction for stealing client assets.
Cheung was sentenced by the District Court on 31 March 2025 to 30 months’ imprisonment after his theft conviction.
The Court found that Cheung, who was then an account manager for a client of HSB, had misappropriated a total sum of $1,530,500 from the client’s account via 88 unauthorised ATM withdrawals between 13 May 2016 and 7 February 2017. To this end, Cheung unlawfully retained the client’s ATM card and the PIN document, and, without the client’s authorisation, sold the client’s investment holdings and transferred the proceeds of $1,203,182.4 to the client’s bank account for his subsequent unauthorised ATM withdrawals.
Cheung held a position of trust as an account manager. But he exploited and violated the trust that his client had placed in him for his own personal gain. In doing so, Cheung demonstrated that he lacked the fundamental honesty and integrity expected of regulated individuals in the industry.
In deciding the disciplinary sanction, the SFC has taken into account all relevant circumstances, including the severity and premeditated nature of Cheung’s misconduct.
