On 31 October 2011 the Hong Kong Sec
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Posted On: 10/23/2013 4:35:14 PM
On 31 October 2011 the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission launched a “Have You Seen These People?” on its official website:
According to Mr Mark Steward, the SFC’s Executive Director of Enforcement, “We hope the public will help us find people we have been unable to find using traditional methods.” He added that, “With the support of the public, I am sure we will be able to enforce Hong Kong’s securities laws more effectively for the benefit of the community.”
But here we are almost exactly two years later, and the man who graced the top of their original “People subject to arrest warrants list”, Tang Yan Tian Michael, is still at large in mainland China.
Why? Because according to experts, even if a director or top manager in a Hong Kong listed company violates company law in Hong Kong, they become “untouchable” when they flee Hong Kong and continue their brand-new life in mainland China.
What does that tell us about HKSFC’s capacity to prosecute those who break their laws? This is a blatant failure of regulatory oversight: they might as well put Tang’s face on a milk carton, like they do here in America.
More importantly for Sino Prosper shareholders, what does it tell us about Sino Prosper itself? (Tang was an executive director at Sino Prosper, and was CEO from 2005 to 2008.) It certainly seems to be slow (to put it kindly) in pursuing its fiduciary responsibilities to shareholders. One of those shareholders has had to seek disclosure through a section 152FA application to work out why Sino Prosper’s founder and current chairman, Leung Ngai-Man, is pursuing very sketchy dealings. Illegal activity? Again? Seems that way to me. Have a look at this and do the math:
This reminds me of what happened to shares in Asiasons Capital, Blumont, and LionGold Corp: the SGX lifted its trading restrictions on them only on Monday.
When a business announces that it’s moving from its core activities to unrelated areas, that should be a big red flag. But it’s not just up to investors to be wary. The Singapore and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges have to respond swiftly and decisively where there’s inadequate investor protection........especially if they want to be seen as preferred windows for investors to Asia’s capital markets. It’s not just trust in companies that’s at stake here.
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