HONG KONG: Hong Kong authorities said on Thursday they had launched an insider trading probe into two brokerages and a hedge fund, arresting eight people in its biggest crackdown on the financial industry in recent years.
The announcement didn't name the firms but brokerage Guotai Junan International said in a statement it had been raided this week. Sources familiar with the matter identified CLSA, a unit of Citic Securities, and hedge fund Infini Capital as the other firms.
CLSA declined to comment. Tony Chin, founder of Infini did not reply to Reuters requests for comment. The sources were not authorised to speak to media and declined to be identified.
Those arrested included senior executives, Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission and the Independent Commission Against Corruption said in a statement.
The authorities say they believe that the owner of the hedge fund offered more than $4 million in bribes in return for confidential information regarding share sales by Hong Kong-listed companies before the information was publicly announced.
When the share placements were publicly announced, the stock prices of the companies declined, and the hedge fund allegedly made profits of around $315 million from short positions, the statement said.
Shares in Guotai Junan were down nearly 5% in afternoon trade, while Citic's Hong Kong-listed shares lost 2%.
Both regulatory bodies declined to comment on the identities of the companies. - Reuters
