The Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC) condemned Cheung Kong Corporate Finance (Hong Kong) Limited (CJCF) for being serious and failing to perform its sponsor duties in six listing applications and fined it HK $20 million.。

The six listing applications submitted by CJCF between September 2015 and December 2017 are: Pacific Infinity Resources Holdings Limited, Asia Pacific Network Media Holdings Limited, Hengli Holdings Limited, Wen Chuang International (Cayman) Limited, Rising Sun Construction Holdings Limited and Hundred Leasing Holdings Limited。

The SFC also partially suspended CJCF's licence, requiring the company not to act as a sponsor of any securities listing application on the Stock Exchange for a period of one year from 18 August 2023, or until the SFC confirms that CJCF's controls and procedures meet the requirements.。The sponsor-related business is sufficient to ensure compliance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements (subject to the latest version)。

The SFC took disciplinary action following an investigation which found that the CJCF failed to:

• Perform all reasonable due diligence on Pacific Infinity, Van Chuam and Rising Sun's listing applications。
  Provide appropriate advice and guidance for Pacific Infinity, Perpetual Power and Byleasing to comply with all relevant listing eligibility。
  Ensure that all material information is disclosed in the application version prospectus of Pacific Infinity, AsiaPac and Van Chuam。
  Maintain proper records of the due diligence work it claims to have done on all six listing applications。

In deciding on the sanctions, the SFC considered a number of factors, including the CJCF's extensive and serious shortcomings as a sponsor and the need to send a strong deterrent message to the industry and the market that the SFC will not tolerate the sponsor's dereliction of duty.。

The CJCF is understood to have cooperated in addressing the SEC's concerns, including agreeing to engage an independent reviewer to review its policies, procedures and practices related to the conduct of the sponsor's business.。