Hong Kong

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has reprimanded and fined Jinrui Futures (Hong Kong) Limited (Jinrui Futures) $4.8 million for failures in complying with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) and other regulatory requirements between April 2015 and June 2018 (Note 1).

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has reprimanded and fined Cardinalasia Consulting Limited (CCL) $1.5 million over its failures in acting as a principal investment adviser to five private funds between August 2014 and October 2017 after the Securities and Futures Appeals Tribunal (SFAT) upheld the SFC’s disciplinary action against it (Notes 1 to 5).

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) wishes to alert members of the public that 新美銀行 (translation: Newstates Bank) (website: https://newstates.com/) is not licensed by or registered with the SFC under the Securities and Futures Ordinance to conduct any regulated activities in Hong Kong.

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has appointed Mr Keith Choy, Senior Director of Intermediaries, as Interim Head of Intermediaries, effective 1 January 2023.

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) is pleased to note the publication of the 2021-22 annual report by the Process Review Panel (PRP) for the SFC.

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has reprimanded and fined Guosen Securities (HK) Brokerage Company, Limited (Guosen) $2.8 million for regulatory breaches in relation to the handling of client assets and the provision of client account statements (Note 1).

The Green and Sustainable Finance Cross-Agency Steering Group (Steering Group) today (20 December) announced that it has entered into a collaboration arrangement with CDP, an international non-profit organisation that runs the global environmental disclosure system for companies, to jointly enhance climate data availability and sustainability reporting in Hong Kong. The Steering Group and CDP will work together to: enhance climate and environmental disclosure, improve data availability and accessibility in Hong Kong; support capacity building and upskilling, to facilitate local companies in disclosing high-quality climate and other environmental-related data in line with existing and upcoming global standards and best practice; and facilitate data flow, to provide financial institutions with better data resources to assess climate and environmental related risks, and supporting the real sector in the transition towards carbon neutrality. As part of this collaboration, the Steering Group and CDP have developed a Climate and Environmental Risk Questionnaire for Non-listed companies/small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (SME Questionnaire) (Note 1). This is a first cross-sector reporting template designed for first-time reporting corporates in Hong Kong, especially SMEs. The template comes in three versions (Annexes 1 to 3) with different levels of granularity, to cater for variation in the reporting corporates’ size and sophistication. The easy-to-use template is intended to aid corporates’ sustainability reporting processes and raise their sustainability visibility to lenders, investors and supply chain clients so to better access sustainability financing. It will also facilitate financial institutions’ collection and assessment of company-level data for risk assessment and relevant business decisions. To encourage take up, the Steering Group and CDP have developed comprehensive guidance and learning materials for the use of the template, and will arrange targeted capacity building sessions starting in the first quarter of 2023. The Steering Group will also work with the financial institutions and industry bodies to deploy the questionnaire, facilitate data collection and encourage corporates’ adoption of the questionnaire. It is developing a data portal to collect and allow financial institutions to access relevant corporate data, subject to consent. Eddie Yue, Co-Chair of the Steering Group and the Chief Executive, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said, “Data is a critical factor in promoting the adoption of sustainable finance by financial institutions and corporates. With the launch of this collaboration with CDP, we are taking an important step in broadening our data effort to include SMEs, an important and previously hard-to-reach segment of our economy. We look forward to working with CDP to encourage the use of this template and further enhance Hong Kong’s sustainable finance ecosystem.” Julia Leung, Co-Chair of the Steering Group and Acting Chief Executive Officer, the Securities and Futures Commission said, “Companies worldwide are increasingly setting climate goals and actively considering their respective decarbonisation pathways. This collaboration with CDP will enhance the availability and accessibility of comparable and reliable value chain data, which will not only benefit companies that are seeking to understand their current climate footprints and chart the way forward, but also contribute positively to the global emissions reduction agenda.” Donald Chan, Managing Director for APAC, CDP said, “SMEs make up a significant proportion of the global economy and their activity will be essential to the net-zero transition. So, it is crucial that SMEs are equipped with the tools and resources needed to not only commit to and accelerate environmental action, but to ensure their own long-term business viability. As the world’s only independent global environmental disclosure system, CDP is committed to supporting SMEs to do so. We are delighted to partner with Steering Group on this pivotal project to drive more, and better, disclosure and action in Hong Kong and improve data quality for all real economy actors.” Note: 1. The SME Questionnaire is aligned with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework. It was developed with the support of the Data Working Group under the Centre for Green and Sustainable Finance (member list).There are three versions of SME Questionnaire developed to cater for different size and need of companies. The Steering Group will continue to review and update the questions periodically with CDP's assist, in line with global standards. Annex 1 – Questionnaire for Micro Enterprises Annex 2 – Questionnaire for Small Enterprises Annex 3 – Questionnaire for Medium Enterprises *************** About the Green and Sustainable Finance Cross-Agency Steering Group Established in May 2020, the Steering Group is co-chaired by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Securities and Futures Commission. Members include the Environment and Ecology Bureau, Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, Insurance Authority and the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority. The Steering Group aims to coordinate the management of climate and environmental risks to the financial sector, accelerate the growth of green and sustainable finance in Hong Kong and support the Government’s climate strategies. About the Centre for Green and Sustainable Finance The Centre for Green and Sustainable Finance is a cross-sector platform launched by the Steering Group in July 2021. The Centre co-ordinates the efforts of financial regulators, relevant government agencies, industry stakeholders and academia in capacity building and to improve data availability for the financial industry. About CDP CDP is a global non-profit that runs the world’s environmental disclosure system for companies, cities, states and regions. Founded in 2000 and working with more than 680 financial institutions with over US$130 trillion in assets, CDP pioneered using capital markets and corporate procurement to motivate companies to disclose their environmental impacts, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, safeguard water resources and protect forests. Nearly 20,000 organisations around the world disclosed data through CDP in 2022, including more than 18,700 companies worth half of global market capitalisation, and over 1,100 cities, states and regions. Fully TCFD aligned, CDP holds the largest environmental database in the world, and CDP scores are widely used to drive investment and procurement decisions towards a zero carbon, sustainable and resilient economy. CDP is a founding member of the Science Based Targets initiative, We Mean Business Coalition, the Investor Agenda and the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative. Visit cdp.net or follow @CDP to find out more. End

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) today jointly announced their in-principle approval for the further expansion of the scope of stocks eligible for trading under Mainland-Hong Kong Stock Connect.

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has prohibited Ms Sun Yiding from re-entering the industry for eight months from 15 December 2022 to 14 August 2023 (Note 1).

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) welcomes the Chief Executive’s appointment of Ms Julia Leung to the post of Chief Executive Officer for a three-year term, effective 1 January 2023.

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has suspended Mr Chung Tung Sau, a former licensed representative of Quam Securities Company Limited (Quam), for seven months from 15 December 2022 to 14 July 2023 and fined him $60,000 (Note 1).

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has suspended Ms Wang Pei Yi, a former licensed representative of SinoPac Securities (Asia) Limited (SinoPac), for 10 months from 14 December 2022 to 13 October 2023 (Note 1).