Who was sanctioned, and for what?

Hang Seng Bank was publicly reprimanded and fined 66,400,000 HKD. Relationship managers had induced 46 clients, whose fund transactions in 2016/2017 were recorded as their own choice, to trade excessively often with short holding periods; between 2014 and 2018, 388 clients without established knowledge of derivatives bought derivative funds in 629 transactions; and between 2014 and 2023 the bank improperly retained benefits, overcharged fees and inadequately disclosed trailer fees (at least 22.4 million HKD). The bank has compensated affected clients and refunded the amounts overcharged.

Authority / court

Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)

Area of law

Capital markets and financial supervision · Organisational requirements

Legal basis

s. 196 SFO (Cap. 571); Code of Conduct for Persons Licensed by or Registered with the SFC

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Repeat case

no

Mitigating circumstances

Compensation of clients and refund of benefits, internal and independent reviews after self-reporting, cooperation with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and acceptance of the findings, no previous disciplinary record.

Published

27 Jan 2025

Original amount 66,400,000 HKD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 27 Jan 2025.

Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link

On 17 September 2026 the Shatin Magistrates' Courts (a Hong Kong magistrates' court), on prosecutions brought by the Labour Department (Hong Kong's labour authority), fined four companies for breaches of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Regulations, the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Electricity) Regulations and the Construction Sites (Safety) Regulations (Hong Kong workplace safety rules). The case concerned a fatal accident on 10 September 2023 at Hong Kong Science Park, in which a worker received an electric shock while carrying out electrical work. China Power International Development Limited and Towngas - China Power (HK) Integrated Energy Company Limited pay 908,000 HKD each, A. Kourage Limited 904,250 HKD and Skynet Engineering Company Limited 417,000 HKD, 3,137,250 HKD in total.

Authority / court

Shatin Magistrates' Courts, Hongkong (Anklage: Labour Department)

Area of law

Health and safety and employment law · Workplace safety and accidents

Legal basis

Factories and Industrial Undertakings Regulations; Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Electricity) Regulations; Construction Sites (Safety) Regulations

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Energy and utilities

Published

17 Sep 2026

Original amount 3,137,250 HKD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 17 Sep 2026.

Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link

In Construction was fined HKD 640,000 for breaches of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance and the regulations on lifting appliances and safety management. On a foundation construction site in Tai Po on 30 September 2025, a female worker had been trapped between the rear end of a slewing crawler crane and the railing of a steel platform and later died.

Authority / court

Shatin Magistrates' Courts, Hongkong (Anklage: Labour Department)

Area of law

Health and safety and employment law · Workplace safety and accidents

Legal basis

Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance; Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Lifting Appliances and Lifting Gear) Regulations; Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Safety Management) Regulation

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Construction and real estate

Published

4 Sep 2026

Original amount 640,000 HKD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 4 Sep 2026.

Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link

Luk Fook Securities (HK) was publicly reprimanded and fined 2,100,000 HKD because inadequate cybersecurity controls might have contributed to a ransomware attack on 19 September 2022 hitting numerous core servers and to full recovery taking until 7 October 2022; during that time clients could not trade via the app or internet platform. Findings included missing firewall protection, outdated operating systems and antivirus software, weak access and password controls with credentials stored unencrypted, insufficient controls over remote access and external devices, inadequate data backup and a last security training session in 2018.

Authority / court

Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)

Area of law

Information security and cyber · Security measures and risk management

Legal basis

s. 194 SFO (Cap. 571); Code of Conduct GP 2, GP 3, GP 7, paras. 12.1, 18.5 und Schedule 7; Guidelines for Reducing and Mitigating Hacking Risks Associated with Internet Trading

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Repeat case

no

Mitigating circumstances

Root-cause review with an independent reviewer, strengthened controls, no evidence of client loss, cooperation, clean disciplinary record.

Published

28 Jul 2026

Original amount 2,100,000 HKD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 28 Jul 2026.

Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link

The SFC publicly reprimanded China Industrial Securities International Asset Management (CISIAM) and fined it HKD 6.8 million because, between August 2019 and September 2020, the manager of a private fund set up for the insurer Tahoe Life acquired complex structures with notes linked to bonds of a related company at the request of the insurer's chief investment officer, without identifying and properly examining the red flags. CISIAM also failed to observe the fund's investment restrictions and objectives and did not manage its risks effectively. In setting the penalty, the SFC also took into account management fees of around HKD 1.9 million received from the fund.

Authority / court

Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Hongkong

Area of law

Capital markets and financial supervision · Organisational requirements

Legal basis

Section 194 Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571); General Principle 2 Code of Conduct; Paragraphen 1.2(d), 3.1 und 3.11.1 Fund Manager Code of Conduct; Abschnitt VIII Management, Supervision and Internal Control Guidelines

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Repeat case

no

Mitigating circumstances

Remedial measures (new policies on risk management and dubious investment arrangements, compliance training), cooperation with the SFC and an otherwise clean disciplinary record.

Published

27 Jul 2026

Original amount 6,800,000 HKD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 27 Jul 2026.

Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link

Bright Smart Securities International (H.K.) was publicly reprimanded and fined 2,800,000 HKD because between November 2023 and September 2025 its controls did not prevent 615 clients from executing 1,021 pairs of wash trades (trades without a change in beneficial ownership) in 736 shares and warrants. Monitoring was mostly after the event and manual, and several wash trades by one client on the same day counted as a single occurrence. Similar deficiencies had been identified and raised repeatedly before but were not fully remedied in any instance.

Authority / court

Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)

Area of law

Capital markets and financial supervision · Market abuse and insider dealing

Legal basis

s. 194 SFO (Cap. 571); Code of Conduct GP 2, para. 4.3

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Mitigating circumstances

Enhanced systems and a commitment to an independent effectiveness review, cooperation.

Published

27 Jul 2026

Original amount 2,800,000 HKD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 27 Jul 2026.

Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link

On 17 June 2026 the Competition Commission (Hong Kong's competition authority) accepted a commitment from Kangaroo Limited, which operates the Keeta food delivery platform in Hong Kong and is a subsidiary of Meituan. The authority was concerned that clauses in Keeta's agreements with partner restaurants made access harder for new and small platforms and softened competition – a possible breach of the First Conduct Rule (the ban on anti-competitive agreements). Keeta had already amended the agreements voluntarily (cooperation with platforms of up to 10% market share without losing incentives, easier switching, no bar on lower prices on the restaurants' own channels and on rival platforms); with the acceptance, these changes are legally binding and enforceable by the authority until 28 December 2026.

Authority / court

Competition Commission (Hongkong)

Area of law

Competition law

Legal basis

Competition Ordinance (Cap. 619), s. 6 (First Conduct Rule); Annahme einer Verpflichtungszusage nach s. 60

Action

Order

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Media and online platforms

Published

17 Jun 2026

Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link

In April 2026 China Harbour Engineering Company Limited was fined 78,000 HKD at the Eastern Magistrates' Courts (a Hong Kong magistrates' court) under the Water Pollution Control Ordinance (Hong Kong's water pollution law) because the company had discharged waste or polluting matter into a water control zone on 14 July 2025; the prosecution was brought by the Environmental Protection Department (Hong Kong's environmental authority). It was the highest fine among the 40 environmental convictions the department published for April 2026.

Authority / court

Eastern Magistrates' Courts, Hongkong (Anklage: Environmental Protection Department)

Area of law

Environment and sustainability · Emissions and permits

Legal basis

Water Pollution Control Ordinance (Einleitung von Abfall oder verunreinigenden Stoffen in eine water control zone)

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Construction and real estate

Published

22 May 2026

Original amount 78,000 HKD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 22 May 2026.

Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link

Under an agreement with the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC, Hong Kong's securities regulator), PricewaterhouseCoopers Hong Kong has undertaken to set aside 1,000,000,000 HKD to compensate independent minority shareholders of China Evergrande Group; in return the regulator will take no further action, without any admission of liability. China Evergrande's audited revenue was allegedly overstated by 44.79% for 2019 and 69.03% for 2020, and PwC Hong Kong, as auditor, was allegedly concerned in the dissemination of false information, allegedly did not maintain its independence and allegedly acquiesced in management's manipulation of audit samples and site inspections.

Authority / court

Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)

Area of law

Capital markets and financial supervision · Market abuse and insider dealing

Legal basis

s. 277 SFO (Cap. 571) (Auffassung der SFC, von PwC HK nicht anerkannt)

Action

Other

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Other

Published

23 Apr 2026

Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link

In a ransomware attack on the membership management system of Yau Yat Chuen Garden City Club Limited, a private, non-profit recreational club, reported on 31 October 2025, data of 9,045 current and former members and supplementary card holders were affected, including identity card or passport numbers. The attacker exploited a known vulnerability in outdated remote access software of the external service provider and reached the server, which had been left logged in, without further authentication; antivirus software and firewall were outdated, and personal data had been kept longer than necessary. In its investigation report published on 23 April 2026 the PCPD (Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Hong Kong's data protection authority) found breaches of DPP 4(1) and DPP 2(2) and served an enforcement notice.

Authority / court

Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD), Hongkong

Area of law

Data protection · Data breaches and data security

Legal basis

Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, Data Protection Principles 4(1) und 2(2); Enforcement Notice

Action

Order

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Other

Published

23 Apr 2026

Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link

The court fined Sun Shine Decoration HKD 500,000 and Wai Tat Aluminium & Glass Engineering HKD 230,000, HKD 730,000 in total, for breaches of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance and the Construction Sites (Safety) Regulations. The case arose from a fatal accident on 16 May 2025 at a house in Kwu Tung, in which a worker fell into the swimming pool of the neighbouring house while fixing insulation boards on a metal canopy.

Authority / court

Fanling Magistrates' Courts, Hongkong (Anklage: Labour Department)

Area of law

Health and safety and employment law · Workplace safety and accidents

Legal basis

Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance; Construction Sites (Safety) Regulations

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Construction and real estate

Published

14 Apr 2026

Original amount 730,000 HKD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 14 Apr 2026.

Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link

Chevalier (Construction) was fined HKD 80,000 in January 2026 because on 23 February 2025 the company carried out prescribed construction work in breach of the conditions of its construction noise permit. It was the heaviest single fine among the 34 convictions reported by the Environmental Protection Department for January 2026.

Authority / court

Kwun Tong Magistrates' Courts, Hongkong (Anklage: Environmental Protection Department)

Area of law

Environment and sustainability · Emissions and permits

Legal basis

Noise Control Ordinance (Bauarbeiten entgegen den Bedingungen einer Construction Noise Permit)

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Construction and real estate

Published

23 Feb 2026

Original amount 80,000 HKD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 23 Feb 2026.

Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link

The SFC publicly reprimanded Kylin International (HK) and fined it HKD 9 million for failures as investment manager or consultant of six sub-funds of a Cayman Islands fund from August 2018. The SFC found that conflicts of interest arising from six loans by the firm or a director to four sub-funds were neither managed nor disclosed, reconciliations, valuations and audits were missing, investors were wrongly told that the suitability requirement did not apply, KYC and suitability controls were inadequate and anti-money laundering records were missing. The firm ceased its regulated activities at the end of 2023; its licence was revoked at its request in January 2025.

Authority / court

Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Hongkong

Area of law

Capital markets and financial supervision · Organisational requirements

Legal basis

Section 194 Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571)

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Repeat case

no

Mitigating circumstances

Remedial measures after an SFC review in late 2020, cessation of regulated activities and an otherwise clean disciplinary record.

Liability of senior managers

Measures against individuals are not set out here.

Published

9 Feb 2026

Original amount 9,000,000 HKD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 9 Feb 2026.

Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link

After a fatal accident on 19 August 2023 at a construction site in Chek Lap Kok, in which a worker received an electric shock while carrying out electrical work on a false ceiling, Hip Seng Builders had been fined HKD 261,000 on 23 January 2025. On the prosecution's application, the court reviewed the sentence and on 21 January 2026 increased the fines to HKD 521,000. The conviction was under the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance and two regulations on construction site and electrical safety.

Authority / court

West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts, Hongkong (Anklage: Labour Department)

Area of law

Health and safety and employment law · Workplace safety and accidents

Legal basis

Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance; Construction Sites (Safety) Regulations; Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Electricity) Regulations

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Construction and real estate

Published

21 Jan 2026

Original amount 521,000 HKD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 21 Jan 2026.

Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link

Saxo Capital Markets HK was publicly reprimanded and fined 4,000,000 HKD because between November 2018 and November 2022 retail clients, too, could trade on its online trading platform 32 complex virtual asset-related products which under the regulators' circulars were reserved for professional investors (1,446 transactions by 130 retail clients and six professional investors). The firm neither assessed clients' knowledge nor provided sufficient information and warnings; the detection rules adopted from its parent group had not identified the products as crypto-related.

Authority / court

Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)

Area of law

Capital markets and financial supervision · Organisational requirements

Legal basis

s. 194 SFO (Cap. 571); Code of Conduct; Guidelines on Online Distribution and Advisory Platforms; SFC-Rundschreiben vom 01.11.2018 und HKMA/SFC-Rundschreiben vom 28.01.2022

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Repeat case

no

Mitigating circumstances

Self-report, voluntary compensation of clients, cessation of regulated activities, cooperation and acceptance of the findings, otherwise clean disciplinary record.

Published

6 Jan 2026

Original amount 4,000,000 HKD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 6 Jan 2026.

Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link

The SFC publicly reprimanded EFG Bank AG and fined it HKD 10,850,000 because, between January 2015 and December 2020, the bank failed to take special product features into account in its due diligence on 322 bonds, updated its policies late after the complex product regime took effect and in some cases served customers without the required information and warning statements. In addition, due diligence records were missing for 141 bonds, and the bank did not report the failures to the SFC immediately. The bank will apply an enhanced complaint handling procedure for customers who acquired one of 351 potentially affected products.

Authority / court

Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Hongkong

Area of law

Capital markets and financial supervision · Organisational requirements

Legal basis

Section 196 Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571); Code of Conduct for Persons Licensed by or Registered with the SFC; Management, Supervision and Internal Control Guidelines

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Mitigating circumstances

Remedial measures on product due diligence, cooperation with the HKMA and the SFC, and commitment to an enhanced complaint handling procedure for affected customers.

Published

11 Dec 2025

Original amount 10,850,000 HKD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 11 Dec 2025.

Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link

Tung Tai Securities was reprimanded and fined 900,000 HKD because between September 2019 and February 2020, acting on instructions from a bogus email address resembling the genuine one, it sold an overseas client's shares and transferred the proceeds of 3,301,740 USD to three overseas bank accounts not designated by the client. Red flags such as transfers rejected by several banks were ignored, and effective controls to protect client assets from theft and fraud were lacking.

Authority / court

Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)

Area of law

Capital markets and financial supervision · Organisational requirements

Legal basis

s. 194 SFO (Cap. 571); Code of Conduct GP 2, GP 3, GP 8, paras. 4.3, 11.1(a); Management, Supervision and Internal Control Guidelines Part VII

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Repeat case

no

Mitigating circumstances

Compensation of the client, improved order-handling and execution procedures, independent review of controls, cooperation, otherwise clean disciplinary record.

Published

13 Nov 2025

Original amount 900,000 HKD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 13 Nov 2025.

Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link

UBS AG was publicly reprimanded and fined 8,000,000 HKD in Hong Kong because, from 2009 to July 2022, its automated process for classifying professional investors rested on a misinterpretation of the minimum portfolio requirement for certain joint accounts. From July 2018 to July 2022 alone, 560 joint accounts were misclassified; securities of 23 of these accounts were lent in 9,190 lending transactions without valid authority, and 94 accounts carried out 500 transactions in products reserved for professional investors. In August 2021 the regulator had already fined UBS 9.8 million HKD, among other things for similar failings.

Authority / court

Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)

Area of law

Capital markets and financial supervision · Organisational requirements

Legal basis

s. 196 SFO (Cap. 571); s. 4 Securities and Futures (Client Securities) Rules; s. 11(3A) Securities and Futures (Contract Notes, Statements of Account and Receipts) Rules; Securities and Futures (Professional Investor) Rules; Code of Conduct

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Employees

10,000 or more

Repeat case

yes

Mitigating circumstances

Look-back review and remediation after self-reporting, cooperation, commitment to an enhanced complaint handling procedure for potentially misclassified clients.

Published

20 Oct 2025

Original amount 8,000,000 HKD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 20 Oct 2025.

Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link

The SFC publicly reprimanded Instinet Pacific and fined it HKD 8 million because, between December 2012 and March 2018, the broker failed to report 8,817 pairs of cross trades between clients and an affiliated company, worth around HKD 25.9 billion, to the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong as required by Rule 526 of the Exchange Rules. There were neither internal rules on reporting such trades nor any review of the reporting process.

Authority / court

Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Hongkong

Area of law

Capital markets and financial supervision · Disclosure and reporting obligations

Legal basis

Section 194 Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571); Rule 526 Rules of the Exchange (SEHK); General Principles 2 und 7 sowie Paragraph 12.1 Code of Conduct

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Mitigating circumstances

The firm ceased the relevant trade flows on its own initiative and cooperated with the SFC.

Published

8 Sep 2025

Original amount 8,000,000 HKD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 8 Sep 2025.

Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link

Deutsche Bank AG was publicly reprimanded and fined 23,800,000 HKD in Hong Kong. Clients were overcharged fees of about 5 million USD in management fees on 39 accounts, 10,988 EUR at 92 customers and 493 USD at 32 customers, because agreed discounts were not applied, floating rate debt instruments were wrongly valued and fund prices were not updated. 261 single stock and 1,590 industry research reports lacked disclosure of investment banking relationships. 40 ETFs were given too low a product risk rating. The proceedings stemmed from the bank's self-reports.

Authority / court

Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)

Area of law

Capital markets and financial supervision · Organisational requirements

Legal basis

s. 196 SFO (Cap. 571); Code of Conduct GP 2, GP 7, paras. 2.1, 12.1, 16.5(d)

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Employees

10,000 or more

Culpability

negligent

Mitigating circumstances

Self-reports, root-cause analysis, remediation and stronger controls, refund of overcharged fees, breaches found by the regulator to be inadvertent and without intent, cooperation and acceptance of the findings.

Published

28 Aug 2025

Original amount 23,800,000 HKD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 28 Aug 2025.

Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link