Hong Kong’s securities watchdog has fined U.S. bank JP Morgan HKD30 million (USD3.87 million) for systems and control failings in its institutional equities business in Hong Kong, in one of the largest fines ever levied by the watchdog.
In a statement published today, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) said an investigation had revealed that the bank had breached the watchdog’s rules relating to short-selling, client facilitation and principal trading.
The bank also breached the regulator’s rules on dark-pool trading, making it the latest bank in the financial center to fall foul of an SFC crackdown on these off-exchange share trading platforms.
In a statement, JP Morgan said: “We have fully co-operated with the SFC and are pleased to have resolved these legacy issues in relation to certain aspects of our systems and controls in the institutional equities business in Hong Kong. The firm has strengthened its internal systems and controls to ensure compliance with the prevailing rules and regulations.”
Words: Reuters
