Hong Kong's Eastern Magistrates’ Court has convicted Mr Simon Chan Ying Ming, a former officer of Wonderful Wealth Group Ltd, of offering to deal in futures contracts and asset management on behalf of HNW clients without a licence. The Securities and Futures Commission was prosecuting.

Chan pled guilty to all four charges and was fined HK$20,000 (US$2,550) and ordered to pay the costs of the SFC’s investigation. Between July and September 2012, Chan falsely told two investors (who presumably had not visited the Public Register of Licensed Persons and Registered Institutions on the SFC's website) that Wonderful Wealth traded in futures contracts and options - thereby breaking section 114(1)(b) Securities and Futures Ordinance - and asked them to invest in one of its investment schemes which guaranteed a monthly rate of return of 5% in three months’ time.

Chan told them that Wonderful Wealth would use their funds to trade futures contracts and options in its trading accounts. They invested about HK$850,000 (US$108,800) in the investment scheme and subsequently suffered losses of about HK$710,000 (US$90,800).

The SFC also says that Chan had "aided, abetted, counselled, procured, induced WWGL to hold itself out to the investors as carrying on a business of dealing in futures contracts and asset management or that the offence by WWGL was committed with the consent, connivance of or was attributable to recklessness of Chan."

Section 390 of the ordinance states that if the commission of any offence in the ordinance by a corporation is proved to have been aided, abetted, counselled, procured or induced by any officer of the corporation, that person is also guilty of the offence. This seems to be an unnecessary addition to the common law, which has always attributed guilt for an offence to anybody who has aided, abetted, counselled or procured for it.

On 4 June, the former sole director and shareholder of Wonderful Wealth was convicted of the same offences.

The SFC appears to have launched a campaign against infractions involving unlicensed business from the distant past. The latest case, which does not involve wealth management, ended in the conviction of Brilliance Capital Management Ltd and its director Mr Law Sai Hung for offering advice in 2013 about corporate finance without a licence and even signing an invalid Advisor Engagement Agreement. They were fined a total of HK$30,000 (US$3,800) and ordered to pay the costs of the SFC’s investigation.