Compliance
Compliance Corner: Hong Kong, Israel, Others

The latest compliance news: regulatory developments, punishments, guidance, permissions and new product and service offerings.
Hong Kong, Israel
The Securities
and Futures Commission of Hong Kong has entered into a
co-operation agreement with the Israel Securities Authority on
developing fintech.
The pact is an example of a raft of co-operation agreements
hammered out by regulators around the world to foster fintech.
Such technology has become a major competitive battleground as
financial hubs compete for business, but it is also an area where
co-operation is taking place.
Under the Hong Kong/Israel pact, the regulators will share
information, form potential joint innovation projects, and refer
firms seeking entry into one another’s markets.
Australia
An Australian court has forced Theta Asset
Management – now in liquidation – to pay A$2.0 million for
breaching regulations and also ordered its managing director
Robert Marie to pay an A$100,000 penalty. Clients had suffered
“catastrophic” losses from the saga.
The order was given by the Federal Court in Western Australia.
The court found that the business and Marie had broken the
Corporations Act several times by authorising the issue of five
defective Product Disclosure Statements for the Sterling Income
Trust.
Marie will also be banned for four years from managing
corporations.
The
Australian Securities and Investments Commission issued
proceedings against Theta and Marie on 11 December 2019. Theta
and Marie admitted the contraventions in a Statement of Agreed
Facts and Admissions filed with the court, along with joint
submissions for declarations, civil penalties and the
disqualification order to be imposed, ASIC said in a statement
earlier this week.
The statement said that in handing down his judgment, the Hon
Justice McKerracher noted that the circumstances involved
“catastrophic losses” sustained by investors.
“The Federal Court outcome sends an important deterrent message to other responsible entities, as well as to those entrusted to act as gatekeepers, to ensure they comply with their legal obligations,” ASIC Commissioner Cathie Armour said.