Hong Kong’s SFC bans former CEO of YSD Capital for IPO sponsor failures

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has prohibited Mr Fabian Shin Yick, a former responsible officer (RO) and chief executive officer of Yi Shun Da Capital Limited (YSD Capital), from re-entering the industry for 20 months.

The ban, which will last until May 14, 2022, is imposed for breaching the SFC’s Code of Conduct and Sponsor Guidelines. Shin was a sponsor principal in charge of supervision of the execution of a listing application in 2017 for which YSD Capital was the sponsor.

The SFC found that Shin failed to discharge his duties as a sponsor principal, an RO and a member of the senior management of YSD Capital, in that he had failed to:

• exercise due skill, care and diligence in handling the listing application in question;
• diligently supervise his subordinates to carry out the sponsor work undertaken by YSD Capital; and
• ensure the maintenance of appropriate standards of conduct by YSD Capital.

In determining the sanction, the SFC took considered Shin’s cooperation and willingness to resolve the SFC’s concerns.

The SFC’s disciplinary action against Shin is related to its disciplinary action against YSD Capital for the listing application in question. Given that YSD Capital has made an application to the Securities and Futures Appeals Tribunal for a review of the SFC’s decision to take disciplinary action against it, the regulator says it will not disclose the details of its disciplinary action against Shin until the conclusion of YSD Capital’s review application.