International Banks Agree To Pay $100 Mln To Settle Hong Kong IPO Cases

(RTTNews) - International banks including UBS Group AG and Morgan Stanley agreed to pay a combined HK$787 million or $100 million to settle cases brought by Hong Kong authorities relating to their work on initial public offerings in the city.

Bank of America Corp. and Standard Chartered Plc were also fined, the Securities and Futures Commission said in a statement on Thursday.

UBS, which faced the largest penalty, HK$375 million, will also be banned from sponsoring IPOs for 12 months, the SFC said. Managing Director Cen Tian, also known as Tim Cen, had his Hong Kong license suspended for two years.

The Securities and Futures Commission on fined Swiss giant UBS HK$375 million. It fined Morgan Stanley HK$224 million, Merrill Lynch HK$128 million and Standard Chartered HK$59.7, all for failures when sponsoring, or leading, IPOs.