MR CHAN CHUN-YING (in Cantonese):
President, as far as the stepping up of enforcement efforts is concerned, the Bureau has mentioned in the main reply that the number of SFC inquiries into acts of misconduct such as corporate
governance or disclosure issues, insider dealing and market manipulation has doubled in the past five years, while the number of formal proceedings commenced has increased by 50%. However, can the Bureau tell us how many cases for which action has been taken by SFC, and how does the number compare with figures of the past? Information should include the actual number of such cases and the corresponding percentage increase, so that we can make an assessment of the practical effectiveness of such inquiries and proceedings.
SECRETARY FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES AND THE TREASURY (in Cantonese):
President, the Bureau has already provided some statistics on 9 November when a reply was given to a question raised by a Member. As mentioned by Mr CHAN, in general, the number of investigations commenced has doubled from 127 in 2011 to 311 in 2015. Among them, the number of cases in relation to corporate governance deficiencies and disclosure issues has increased from 36 to 177; the number of those in relation to insider dealing has increased from 37 to 53; and the number of those involving market manipulation has increased from 54 to 81. As for the number of criminal proceedings, civil proceedings and Market Misconduct Tribunal (“MMT”) proceedings on foot, I can also briefly present the relevant statistics here again. The number of criminal proceedings has decreased from 15 in 2011 to 7 in 2015; the number of civil proceedings has increased from 47 in 2011 to 79 in 2015; and the number of MMT proceedings has also increased from 10 in 2011 to 26 in 2015. As stated by the Member just now, the total number of cases has increased by about 50% from 72 to 112. I have already pointed out just now that SFC will step up its enforcement efforts in the several areas mentioned above, with a view to enhancing the regulatory structure of Hong Kong as far as the institutional framework and gatekeeping are concerned, so that enforcement actions may be taken to address such irregularities within our institutional framework.