Ex-HKEX vice-president and mother charged over alleged confidential data access

A former vice-president of the Hong Kong stock exchange’s operator and his mother have been charged by the city’s graft buster over allegedly accessing confidential information of listed companies, which yielded more than HK$500,000 (US$63,720) in investment profits.

Geoffrey Tong Po-hang, 39, former vice-president of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), and his mother Leung Yiu-chun, 68, appeared in Eastern Court for mention on Wednesday afternoon.

They jointly face one count of “obtaining access to computer with a view to dishonest gain for himself or another”.

The charge alleged that Tong and his mother had obtained access to the HKEX’s internal information system with a view to dishonest gain for the duo or another between February 2018 and April 2023.

A spokesman for the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said its inquiries revealed that Tong had allegedly accessed confidential information of listed companies that was unrelated to his duties on multiple occasions.

Subsequently, his mother's investment account engaged in share transactions of the relevant listed companies, yielding profits exceeding HK$500,000.

The investigation arose from a corruption complaint referred by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), the spokesman said.

He said as the corruption investigation is ongoing, the ICAC would not rule out further prosecution. The ICAC and the SFC have been working closely on the case, while the HKEX has been rendering full support.

This is the second charge in less than two months laid against Tong. In September, he was charged with allegedly failing to comply with a statutory order to declare his assets during a probe.

ICAC officers served Tong with a notice in September last year requiring him to furnish a statutory declaration detailing property, expenditures and liabilities over the preceding three years.

It extended the deadline to March this year on Tong’s request. However, he failed to declare 30 cash deposits totalling more than HK$2.1 million made into his bank account.