The latest compliance news: regulatory developments, punishments, guidance, permissions and new product and service offerings.

SFC
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission has banned Mr TS’O Jing, a former relationship manager of China CITIC Bank International, from re-entering the industry for life after he was convicted for fraud.

The Eastern Magistrates’ Court in Hong Kong found that between May 2016 and January 2017, TS’O, who was then responsible for handling customer account opening for CITIC, falsely claimed an additional sum from seven customers in order to pay for their applications to open an account with CITIC, the SFC said in a statement last week. 

TS’O pocketed the additional sum from the customers and fabricated receipts to acknowledge payments from them on five occasions, it said. 

The SFC said that it considers that TS’O is not a fit and proper person to be licensed or registered to carry on regulated activities as a result of his criminal conviction. 

TS’O was convicted of seven counts of fraud, contrary to section 16A of the Theft Ordinance at the Eastern Magistrates’ Court on 7 January 2019.  On 21 January 2019, he was sentenced to six months imprisonment suspended for two years and was ordered to make restitution to the victims totalling HK$65,100 ($8,399).

New Zealand
The Financial Markets Authority of New Zealand has strengthened its executive team, recruiting Paul Gregory to take on the newly-created role of director of investment management, starting in early November.

Gregory works at PIE Funds as the chief operating officer but has worked for the FMA before. He was previously the FMA’s director of External Communications and Investor Capability (2015-17) and the manager of the Portfolio Intelligence function at the New Zealand Super Fund. He will "lead the FMA’s strategic focus on and regulation of the retail investment management sector," according to the FMA's website.

Rob Everett, the FMA's chief executive, believes the sector to be very important and has selected Gregory because he "has been living and breathing retail funds management in his prior role and [has a] passion for getting the best investor outcomes from fund managers.”