Hong Kong's securities and exchange commission has suspended the securities licence of a former ICBC International banker for his role in the 2009 IPO of Powerlong Real Estate Holdings. The suspension comes after the SFC reprimanded ICBC International Capital and ICBC International Securities and fined them HK$12.5m (US$1.16m) each because of their actions related to the new issue. Last week, the regulator said it suspended Dick Ma for eight months. ICBCI Capital was a joint sponsor and bookrunner on the IPO, while ICBCI Securities, where Ma worked, was a joint lead manager. The SFC investigation found that Powerlong itself had referred some investors to the sponsor and that the latter did not verify the independence of the parties. In particular, the regulator said Ma failed to make sure that the investors Powerlong referred to his firm were independent of the issuer before submitting a marketing statement to the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. The submitted statement said none of the shares had been placed with company directors, their associates or any existing shareholders.
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