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Court convicted and fined Ben Ngai Ping Kuen for unlicensed activity

Issue date: 2023-07-05 18:13:49

The Eastern Magistrates’ Court has convicted Mr Ben Ngai Ping Kuen for holding himself out as performing a regulated function in relation to dealing in securities without a licence from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) (Notes 1 & 2).

Ngai pleaded guilty to the offence and was fined $6,000 and ordered to pay the SFC’s investigation costs.

The Court found that between April 2016 and June 2017, Ngai enticed three retail investors to invest in so-called “US-listed” shares issued by First Asia Holdings Limited (FAH), to finance FAH and/or First Asia Capital Limited (FAC) in their preparation for the purported secondary listing of FAH shares in Hong Kong (Note 3).

Ngai represented to the investors, among other things, that if the secondary listing in Hong Kong was successful, the value of their investment in FAH shares would increase by 100% and that if they intended to realise their investment return, they would have to swap their FAH shares for the shares in a Hong Kong-listed corporation, namely PF Group Holdings Limited (PF).  By the time the investors received their PF shares, the price of the PF shares had fallen substantially.

The SFC reminds investors to check the SFC’s Public Register of Licensed Persons and Registered Institutions on the SFC website (www.sfc.hk) before investing to ensure that firms and people who provide dealing services in securities are properly licensed.

End

Notes:

1. Under Schedule 5 of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO), “dealing in securities” is a type of regulated activity under the SFO.  Under section 114(3)(b) of the SFO, it is an offence for any person to hold himself out as performing a regulated function, in relation to any regulated activity, without a licence from the SFC.
2. Ngai has never been licensed with the SFC in any capacity in relation to a regulated activity.
3. FAH and FAC have never been licensed with the SFC in any capacity in relation to a regulated activity. FAH shares were traded on the over-the-counter market in the United States.

News captured as of:2023-07-05 18:13:50

Source: SFC