The Hong Kong Securities and Futures
Commission (SFC) has fined Merrill Lynch (Asia Pacific) HK$3.5m
($450,000) for committing regulatory breaches.
The charges were given regarding the apparent
failure of Merrill Lynch to deal with the complaints of 11 clients
in 2008, which was followed by a rejection of the complaints.
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According to the SFC, this action was in
breach of Notes 1, 2 and 3 of the Code of Conduct.
It is not the first time Merrill Lynch has
been disciplined, the SFC placing charges in May 2010 and May 2011
with fines of HK$3.5m and HK$3m respectively.
Merrill Lynch had not responded to a request
for comment from PBI on the fines at the time of
posting.
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By GlobalDataFraud backlash
The clients in question had been victims of a
fraud committed by a formal licensed representative of Merrill
Lynch, Ms. Joyce Hsu Ming Mei, the SFC alleged.
Ms Mei, accredited to the bank between 2007
and 2008, was eventually convicted of 20 counts of thefts and
several other dishonesty offences. The clients had invested $7.2m
in the disputed investment products.
The SFC has claimed that Merrill Lynch made
inquiries into the complaints but had failed to investigate reasons
that some complaints were rejected.
It added that Merrill Lynch has since
compensated nine of the affected clients, and is in the process of
paying back the remaining two.
