A decision by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission SFC to suspend the license of an independent financial advisor, Andrew Barber of Barber Asia Limited, has been upheld by the Securities and Futures Appeals Tribunal SFAT, although it also reduced the length of his sentence.
This is yet another high profile case against Hong Kong's modest IFA industry, which is struggling to assert itself against the might of big commercial banks distributing investment products.
The SFC has been public about its efforts to punish wrongdoers in the IFA industry and has put a lot of material about the Barber case on its website. However,...