WSJ: Hong Kong Seeks Ban on Robertson's Tiger Asia Fund
By ELLEN SHENG
HONG KONG—The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission said Monday it is seeking to ban Tiger Asia Management LLC, a New York-based hedge fund, from trading in all listed securities and derivatives in Hong Kong.
The move, which marks the first time the Hong Kong regulator has sought to ban any entity from trading in the city, comes as the SFC is seeking to freeze 8.6 million Hong Kong dollars (US$1.1 million) of Tiger Asia's assets in connection with alleged insider dealing in shares of Bank of China Ltd.
The SFC alleges Tiger Asia traded in Bank of China shares after receiving confidential details of two placements of the bank's shares by UBS AG and Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC. The firm allegedly received advance notice of the placements and had agreed not to deal in Bank of China shares after receiving the information, but then proceeded to sell short 104 million Bank of China shares before UBS's placement, and to sell 256 million shares before RBS's placement.
The HK$8.6 million the SFC is seeking to freeze is equal to the notional profit Tiger Asia allegedly made from its Bank of China trades.
This would be in addition to the HK$29.9 million the SFC sought to freeze when it first started proceedings against Tiger Asia in August in connection with alleged insider dealings in shares of China Construction Bank Corp.
That case is still pending in Hong Kong court proceedings. The SFC is amending its proceedings against Tiger Asia and three of its senior officers, Bill Sung Kook Hwang, Raymond Park and William Tomita, to include the new allegations.
The SFC said no date has been set for a court to hear the allegations.
The SFC is also seeking orders to unwind both the Bank of China and China Construction Bank transactions and to restore affected counterparties to their pretransaction positions.
Tiger Asia is a so-called "tiger cub"—one of several funds that got their start with support from Tiger Management LLC, which nurtured and seeded many funds after founder Julian Robertson closed Tiger Management in 2000.
Executives at Tiger Asia, which has no physical presence in Hong Kong, couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Write to Ellen Sheng at ellen.sheng@dowjones.com
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