Hong Kong’s market regulator has hit the sponsor of a 2009 new listing with the biggest fine it has imposed to date in another sign of its crackdown on lax practices after a flood of problematic listings of businesses from China.
Hontex, the Chinese fabrics company at the centre of the case, was among hundreds of mainland companies that have raised money from Hong Kong investors and made the island the biggest market for initial public offerings in each of the past three years.
But many of the stocks have performed poorly and Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission found shortcomings in the due diligence work of banks that sponsored listings in a review last year.