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The Securities and Futures (Amendment) Ordinance 2012 (Amendment Ordinance) will be gazetted tomorrow (May 4), following the passage of the relevant bill in the Legislative Council on April 25 (last Wednesday).
Provisions covering the following amendments will take effect on the gazette day:
* enabling the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) to institute proceedings before the Market Misconduct Tribunal (MMT) directly;
* enabling the SFC to establish a cross-sectoral investor education centre; and
* miscellaneous technical amendments to the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO).
For the existing six types of market misconduct stipulated in the SFO, the Amendment Ordinance empowers the SFC to institute proceedings before the MMT directly, subject to the consent of the Secretary for Justice.
A government spokesman said, "The Amendment Ordinance also empowers the SFC to establish a cross-sectoral investor education centre as a wholly owned subsidiary of the SFC. It aims to improve the financial knowledge and capability of the general public and to assist them in making better financial decisions. The SFC expects the body to be in place by the fourth quarter this year."
In addition, the Amendment Ordinance seeks to implement a statutory disclosure regime for price sensitive information (PSI), which is scheduled to commence operation on January 1, 2013. The Amendment Ordinance empowers the SFC to institute proceedings before the MMT directly in respect of PSI cases.
Ends/Thursday, May 3, 2012
Issued at HKT 17:00
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