SFC's legal action against Citic a reassuring sign

The authorities have launched actions in some high-profile cases of insider trading and market misinformation to punish wrongdoers, compensate investors and safeguard Hong Kong's reputation for a level playing field. But in the case of state-backed conglomerate Citic's failure to disclose more than HK$15 billion of foreign-exchange losses in a market circular, it has taken six years. At the eleventh hour, before the statute of limitations blocked any civil action, the Securities and Futures Commission filed a case with the Market Misconduct Tribunal. It has also filed a court order seeking HK$1.9 billion compensation from Citic and five former directors for 4,500 investors who suffered losses when eventual disclosure of the losses sparked a share-price plunge.

Although these actions come four years after the SFC completed its investigation and handed it over to the Department of Justice, they do run counter to any perception of reluctance to pursue major firms with strong mainland links. At the same time, however, they appear to consign to limbo an investigation by the police commercial crime bureau. The difference is between a possible jail sentence for a criminal offence and being fined and banned as a company director for misconduct. That said, the regulator would have to meet a higher standard of proof in a criminal case.

The circular in question, concerning a transaction by a subsidiary in 2008, contained a statement that "the directors are not aware of any adverse material change in the financial or trading position of the Group since 31 December 2007" when the forex losses were already known.

Unfortunately for Citic, the case added to its troubled experience with an Australian iron-ore mining and processing project, which is not untypical of problems encountered by some Chinese companies overseas, including cultural issues. It has been plagued with cost overruns, technical glitches in commissioning production lines, conflict over the import of cheap Chinese labour along with unfamiliarity with local labour conditions, and a skills shortage for infrastructure projects amid a mining boom. As a result, shareholders have been told they can expect to endure years of losses before the project will make a profit.

Nonetheless, the SFC is to be commended for pursuing some accountability. Governance standards remain paramount to the city's status as a financial hub.