SFC Imposes Record Fines for Sponsor Failures
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has reprimanded and imposed record fines totalling HK$ 786.7 million on four investment banks for IPO due diligence failures in their sponsorship of applications to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. UBS AG and UBS Securities Hong Kong Limited (UBS), Standard Chartered Securities (Hong Kong) Limited (Standard Chartered), Morgan Stanley Asia Limited (Morgan Stanley) and Merrill Lynch Far East Limited (Merrill Lynch) were fined HK$ 375 million, HK$ 59.7 million, HK$ 224 million and HK$ 128 million, respectively, for breaches of their obligations as IPO sponsors. Read More…