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The Chief Executive has appointed former Recorder of the Court of First Instance of the High Court Mr Kenneth Kwok Hing-wai as Chairman of the Market Misconduct Tribunal (MMT) and the Securities and Futures Appeals Tribunal (SFAT) for a term of three years from April 1, 2016, to March 31, 2019.
Announcing the appointment today (March 18), the Financial Secretary, Mr John C Tsang, said, "Mr Kwok is a barrister in private practice. With his experience in the judicial service as well as on various boards and committees in the public sector, we are confident that Mr Kwok will contribute to the smooth operation of the Tribunals."
Both the MMT and the SFAT were established under the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571) (SFO).
The MMT deals with six types of market misconduct, namely insider dealing, false trading, price rigging, disclosure of information about prohibited transactions, disclosure of false or misleading information inducing transactions, and stock market manipulation. In addition to the six types of market misconduct, the MMT is also empowered to deal with the breaches of disclosure requirements on price sensitive information of listed corporations with effect from January 1, 2013.
The SFAT has jurisdiction to review a wide range of decisions made under the SFO by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and an investor compensation company recognised by the SFC. It serves as an effective safeguard to ensure that the relevant regulatory decisions are reasonable and fair.
Mr Justice Michael John Hartmann, Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal, and Mr Garry Tallentire, a former Deputy Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court, are other serving Chairmen of the MMT and SFAT. The Chairman of each Tribunal conducts hearings with the assistance of two members appointed by the Financial Secretary.
Ends/Friday, March 18, 2016
Issued at HKT 17:15
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