The key financial regulator of Hong Kong SFC issues Restriction notice to Interactive Brokers Hong Kong in relation to the suspected insider dealing in the shares of Bloomage BioTechnology Corporation Limited.
9 March, AtoZForex – The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has issued an announcement on its website that it has sent a restriction notice to Interactive Brokers Hong Kong Limited (IBHK). The notice prohibits the company from dealing with or processing some of the assets that are held in a client account.
SFC issues Restriction notice to Interactive Brokers Hong Kong
Reportedly, the company has received this notice in relation to the suspected insider dealing in the shares of Bloomage BioTechnology Corporation Limited. It is also alleged that the insider dealing has taken place in the period between 22 May and 15 June 2017.
It appears that SFC is not probing IBHK since the company has agreed to cooperate with the regulator in an ongoing investigation. The regulator notes that the restriction notice does not affect IBHK’s operations in any way.
However, the restriction notice prohibits IBHK from disposing of or dealing with, assisting, counselling or procuring another person to dispose of or deal with any assets in any way in the Client Account, including (according to the official announcement):
entering into transactions for any securities; and/or
processing any withdrawals or transfers of securities and/or cash or any transfers of money arising from the disposal of securities; and/or
disposing of or dealing with any securities or cash on the instructions of any authorised person of the Client Account or by any person acting on their behalf; and/or
assisting another person to dispose of or deal with any relevant property in a specified manner. The broker is also required to notify the SFC if it receives any of these instructions.
In addition, the SFC considers that the issue of the restriction notice is in the interest of the investors’ community.
Interactive Brokers UK FCA Fine
This January, the primary financial regulator of the UK, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has published a note that it has fined one of the CFD brokers, Interactive Brokers (UK) £1,049,412.
The UK watchdog has stated that the reason behind the financial penalty is a failure in IBUK’s post-trade systems and controls for identifying and reporting suspicious transactions in the period February 2014 to February 2015.
Think we missed something? Let us know in the comments section below.