香港證監會對中信及前高管提起民事起訴

Hong Kong’s regulator is pursuing Citic and five of its former directors including Larry Yung, the son of “red capitalist” Rong Yiren, China’s former vice-president, for misleading investors over exactly when the company realised it had lost billions on a currency bet gone wrong.

香港監管機構對中信(Citic)及其五名前董事展開法律及研訊程序，包括中國前國家副主席、“紅色資本家”榮毅仁(Rong Yiren)之子榮智健(Larry Yung)，理由是他們在公司究竟何時意識到一筆外匯押注導致鉅虧的問題上誤導投資者。

The civil action comes as Citic has become a flagship for Beijing’s desire to reform its state-owned enterprises after the company’s parent, Citic Group, injected $37bn of assets into its Hong Kong-listed vehicle.

這項民事法律程序啓動之際，中信因其母公司中信集團(Citic Group)向香港上市的子公司注入了370億美元資產而成爲中國改革國企的旗艦之一。

That deal, completed last month, transformed it from an ailing conglomerate dubbed the “red hong” in the 1990s and best known for massive losses on an iron ore venture in Australia, into a $40bn China-focused financial services group.

上個月完成的這筆交易，使這家企業集團轉型爲一家市值400億美元、專注於中國市場的金融服務集團。中信集團在上世紀90年代有“紅色企業”之稱，後來因投資澳大利亞鐵礦石項目而遭遇鉅虧，身陷困境。

The case brought by the Securities and Futures Commission centres on when the company’s management realised that a 2008 currency bet had gone badly wrong.

香港證監會(SFC)發起的這起案件，癥結在於該公司管理層在什麼時候意識到2008年的一筆外匯押注已經造成鉅虧。

Citic could not immediately be reached for comment.

記者一時聯繫不上中信請其置評。

Citic Pacific, as it was then called, warned in October 2008 of big losses from betting that the US dollar would weaken against its Australian counterpart – which would have raised the costs of its Sino Iron development in the Pilbara region.

當時名爲中信泰富(Citic Pacific)的該公司在2008年10月警告稱，其對美元相對於澳元將走低的押注產生了鉅額虧損，這將提高其在澳洲皮爾巴拉地區Sino Iron鐵礦開發項目的成本。

The losses came to $2bn. While the profits warning showed that the company became aware of the issue on September 7 2008, the SFC contends that Citic misled investors by issuing an unconnected circular on September 12 that said directors were not aware of any material adverse change in the company’s financial position.

這些虧損達到20億美元。儘管利潤預警顯示，該公司在2008年9月7日就意識到這個問題，但證監會提出，中信在2008年9月12日曾發佈一份通函，稱就董事們所知，其財務狀況沒有出現任何重大不利變動，從而給投資者造成誤導。

The regulator said yesterday that it was seeking compensation in court from five former directors as well as sanctions from Hong Kong’s market misconduct tribunal.

該監管機構昨日表示，正請求法庭向五名前董事發出賠償令，並請求香港的市場失當行爲審裁處給予五人制裁。

About 4,500 investors spent a combined $245m buying Citic shares between the September circular and the October profit warning, the regulator said. Citic Pacific shares halved the day after the warning.

該監管機構表示，在9月的通函和10月的利潤預警之間，大約4500名投資者總共支出2.45億美元購買中信股票。中信泰富股價在10月利潤預警的次日被腰斬。

The executives are Mr Yung, Citic Pacific’s chairman at the time of the currency bet; Henry Fan, its former managing director; former deputy managing directors Leslie Chang Li-hsien and Peter Lee; and former executive director Chau Chi-yin.

五名高管是：外匯合約簽訂時的中信泰富主席榮智健；前董事總經理範鴻齡(Henry Fan)；前副董事總經理張立憲(Leslie Chang Li-hsien)和李鬆興(Peter Lee)；以及前執行董事周志賢(Chau Chi-yin)。

Mr Yung and Mr Fan resigned in April 2009 after the Hong Kong police’s commercial crime bureau raided the company’s headquarters.

榮智健和範鴻齡在2009年4月辭職，此前香港警務處商業罪案調查科突擊搜查了公司總部。

The SFC’s case has been launched just before Hong Kong’s six-year statute of limitations would have expired.

香港證監會在這個城市爲時六年的訴訟時效即將到期之際提起了此案。