Hong Kong needs to lift its regulatory game as China’s
billionaires eye Singapore for its stability, cost advantages
SCMP, 21 Jul 2020
Hong Kong will need to step up its efforts to streamline
regulations on family offices amid competition from Singapore and a series of
political and economic setbacks in recent months, according to bankers and
accountants. “For
Hong Kong to compete, the government should further streamline its regulations
to make it easier for family offices to set up here,” said Claude Haberer,
chairman of Pictet Wealth Management Asia.
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Pine Capital ordered to release review findings
immediately
Business Times, 21 Jul 2020
Pine Capital appointed KordaMentha on July 15, 2019 as its
independent reviewer to review allegations from various parties over ACPAM and
its operations, including allegations regarding potential conflict of interest
and possible lapses in internal control.
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Acra seeking public feedback on proposed changes to
Companies Act
Business Times, 21 Jul 2020
THE Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra) on Monday said
it is seeking public feedback on proposed amendments to the Companies Act.
The Companies Act Working Group (CAWG), which was set up by Acra in 2018
to review several areas of the Act, has recommended 36 legislative reforms.
These cover the areas of facilitating digitalisation, types of companies and
financial reporting, matters relating to directors and company secretaries,
safeguarding shareholders' interests, share capital and financial assistance,
as well as updating outdated provisions.
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China probes brokerages for
low-price bids in bond underwriting
Business Times, 21 Jul 2020
Several Chinese securities
brokerages including Guotai Junan Securities were under investigation of an
industry association for allegedly making unusually low bids to underwrite CNNC
Financial Leasing's bonds.
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SEC Charges Financial
Advisor with Fraud for Stealing Millions from Investors
SEC, 20 Jul 2020
The Securities and Exchange
Commission today charged former registered representative and investment
adviser Michael Barry Carter with fraud for stealing from brokerage customers
and an elderly advisory client.
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UBS to Pay $10 Million for
Violating Rules Which Give Priority To Retail Investors in Municipal Offerings
SEC, 20 Jul 2020
According to the SEC’s
order, over a four-year period, UBS improperly allocated bonds intended for
retail customers to parties known in the industry as “flippers,” who then
immediately resold or “flipped” the bonds to other broker-dealers at a
profit. The order finds that UBS
registered representatives knew or should have known that flippers were not
eligible for retail priority.
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SEC Charges Silicon Valley
Start-Up and CEO With Defrauding Investors
SEC, 20 Jul 2020
The SEC’s complaint alleges
that from 2018 to 2019, Shaukat Shamim, the founder and CEO of YouPlus, a
private company that purported to have developed a machine-learning tool to
analyze videos on the internet, raised funds from investors while repeatedly
misrepresenting the company’s financial condition. According to the complaint, Shamim falsely
told investors that YouPlus earned millions of dollars in annual revenue and
had more than 100 customers, including Fortune 500 companies.
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CFTC Orders Florida Company
to Pay $75,000 for Registration Violations
CFTC, 20 Jul 2020
The order finds that from
April 2018 through September 2018, Southwest Group, through its website,
offered transactions in off-exchange foreign currency (forex) on a financed
basis to retail customers located throughout the United States who were
ineligible contract participants. These retail forex transactions involved
Vietnamese Dong or Iraqi Dinar.
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