Law Look Tend and Leung Bing Yiu were convicted of the offence of “carrying on a business of advising on securities without a licence”. Law was also convicted of six other counts of issuing advertisements relating to a business of unlicensed advising on securities.
The pair pleaded guilty to the charges at the summons on 1 September and were fined HK$47,000 and ordered to pay the SFC’s investigation costs.
According to a statement released by the watchdog, the court found that in January 2010, Law issued several advertisements in a newspaper promoting services of advising on securities, stating that subscribers who pay monthly fees of HK$299 would receive daily messages via short message services (SMS) containing instantaneous advice on securities and derivatives from Leung.
The SFC also said the court found that between January and June 2010, Leung sent SMS messages containing his advice on securities and derivatives to Law for onward transmission to the subscribers. Leung received HK$5,000 monthly form Law’s firm in return. The SFC said that neither Leung nor Law were authorised to advise on securities.
While issuing the statement, the SFC also reminded investors to check the SFC’s public register to ensure people are licensed prior to taking investment advice from them.
