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The Monetary Authority (MA) has suspended Ms Leung Wai Yu's relevant particulars from the HKMA register maintained under section 20(1)(ea) of the Banking Ordinance for three months from November 20, 2009 to February 19, 2010*.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority's (HKMA) investigation found that in March 2006, Ms Leung, an employee of DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited, in the course of selling a client Constellation Credit Linked Note, had:
¡Dfailed to diligently disclose and explain to the client the product's risk**, and
¡Dfailed to complete the risk disclosure statement for the client in accordance with the bank's internal control procedures.
In determining the sanction, the MA has taken into account all the circumstances of the case, including the extent of the client's losses and the fact that Ms Leung has no disciplinary history.
The action follows Ms Leung's withdrawal of an appeal with the Securities and Futures Appeals Tribunal (SFAT) seeking to review the MA's decision to discipline her.
Mr Raymond Li, the Executive Director of the HKMA responsible for Securities Enforcement said: "This is the first time the HKMA has taken disciplinary action against a relevant individual in connection with a Lehman Brothers-related investment product. There are other disciplinary cases which have reached an advanced stage and will be announced in due course."
*At the relevant time, Ms Leung was an individual whose name was entered in the register maintained by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority under section 20 of the Banking Ordinance as a person engaged by DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited in respect of Type 1 (dealing in securities) and Type 4 (advising on securities) regulated activities. Ms Leung is currently employed by another bank.
**Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. is one of the reference entities in the Note in respect of the occurrence of a credit event.
For further enquiries, please contact:
Alice Lo, Communications Chief, at 2878 1480 or
Wong Hing-fung, Manager (Communications), at 2878 1802
Ends/Friday, November 20, 2009
Issued at HKT 21:26
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