Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has suspended Mr Andy Wong Yeung, former responsible officer (RO), manager-in-charge (MIC) of key business line and overall management oversight and director of City International Futures (Hong Kong) Limited (CIFHKL), for 10 months.
The suspension will run from 9 January 2024 to 8 November 2024.
The disciplinary action follows the SFC’s sanctions against CIFHKL for its failures in complying with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) and other regulatory requirements between March 2016 and October 2018.
The SFC considers that CIFHKL’s failures were attributable to Wong’s failure to discharge his duties as an RO and a member of the senior management of CIFHKL during the material time.
The SFC’s investigation found that CIFHKL, without conducting adequate due diligence, was unable to properly assess and manage the money laundering and terrorist financing and other risks associated with permitting its clients to use client supplied systems (CSSs) in placing orders. The SFC also found that CIFHKL failed to conduct proper enquiries on client deposits which were incommensurate with the clients’ declared financial profiles and establish effective ongoing monitoring system to detect and assess suspicious trading patterns in client accounts
In deciding the disciplinary sanctions against Wong, the SFC took into account various factors, including the serious nature of the failures of Wong and CIFHKL to diligently monitor clients’ activities and put in place adequate and effective AML/CFT systems and controls. The rehulator also noted the need to send a strong deterrent message to the market.
Wong has an otherwise clean disciplinary record.
