Ku had his license suspended for 18 months by Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission for manipulating stock prices to drive up the value of five call warrants.
An SFC investigation found that between 5-26 November 2010 he had placed 21 large-size bid orders for Agricultural Bank of China, which were shortly cancelled within 16 seconds after the related call warrants were sold at inflated prices.
Ku made a gross profit of HK$15,500 ($2,000) from trading the warrants, according to the SFC.
“Ku’s conduct undermined the integrity of the market by creating an appearance of artificial demand,” the regulator said in a statement. “Ku should not have interfered with the impartiality and objectivity of the normal price formation process for the call warrants.”
Suspension is effective today. Ku submitted an appeal but withdrew it earlier today.
“The trading of the call warrants and the placement of the large-sized bid orders indicates that Ku was manipulative,” the SFC said.
