The Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong has banned Mr Pang Hon Pan, a former private banking relationship manager of Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd and a former senior relationship manager at the Bank of Singapore, from financial business for 21 months.

The SFC’s disciplinary action follows a referral by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, whose invetigation stemmed from report submitted by the bank itself to the effect that Pang had contravened the bank’s internal policies between 17 April 2010 and 31 March 2017 by:

    failing to tell his employer about the existence of his personal securities accounts that he maintained with three external financial institutions;
    conducting a total of 48 securities transactions through these accounts without seeking pre-clearance from Standard Chartered, or reporting them to Standard Chartered after execution; and
    falsely declaring to Standard Chartered on seven occasions that he had no existing securities account.

The HKMA decided in November to impose a 15-month suspension on Pang for the above misconduct. Pang, in turn, applied to the Securities and Futures Appeals Tribunal (SFAT) for a review of the HKMA’s decision in December.

On 12 February of this year, Pang asked the SFAT to postpone a hearing scheduled for 17 February because he was in the middle of a fortnight's house arrest and had gone on a business trip to Mainland China on 7 February. The SFAT agreed and adjourned the hearing.

When the HKMA spoke to Pang’s employer at the Bank of Singapore, it discovered that Pang had gone to Mainland China on 7 February on a personal journey instead of a business journey, as he had told the SFAT. He did not quarantine himself at home afterwards.

Pang subsequently withdrew the review application and the SFAT granted leave for Pang to discontinue the review proceedings, while commenting that his review application was wholly without merit, on 14 May this year.

Pang ceased to be registered as a relevant individual with the HKMA from 17 March onwards, having been dismissed by BOS. As the statutory power to discipline a former relevant individual rests with the SFC, the HKMA referred the case to the SFC to consider appropriate disciplinary action against Pang.

The SFC considers that Pang’s conduct regarding his personal securities accounts and wilful misrepresentation to the SFAT is dishonest and calls into question his character, his reliability and his ability to carry out regulated activities competently and honestly.

Pang, who had applied to the SFAT for a review of the SFC’s decision, has been granted leave to withdraw his application by the SFAT and ordered to pay the SFC’s legal costs.