Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission has banned Mr Lam Yuk Wai, a former employee of HSBC Broking Securities (Asia), HSBC Broking Futures (Asia), HSBC Broking Futures (Hong Kong) and HSBC Broking Forex (Asia) from re-entering the financial services industry for life.

Lam was licensed to carry on Type 1 (dealing in securities), Type 2 (dealing in futures contracts), Type 3 (leveraged foreign exchange trading) and Type 4 (advising on securities) regulated activities under Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Ordinance. He was also accredited to HSBC Broking Futures (Hong Kong) Ltd between 2008 and 2013 and to the other firms between 2008 and 2015.

The SFC found that between September 2011 and July 2015 he had:

• conducted more than 100 unauthorised transactions in the accounts of seven clients, causing them to suffer substantial losses;
• deceived his clients by providing them with false and misleading account information which substantially overstated the equity value of their accounts, with an intent to conceal their losses; and
• tried to conceal his misconduct from HSBC Broking (the name that HSBC gives to the four firms collectively) by staging telephone calls in which he pretended to engage in conversations with clients and take order instructions from them.

As a result of Lam’s misconduct, HSBC Broking had to pay more than $70 million to the affected clients to compensate for their losses. The police have been notified, but seem not to have taken action yet.