The HKMA suspends Ko Wai Ling for five months

The Monetary Authority (MA) has suspended Mr Ko Wai Ling's relevant particulars from the HKMA register maintained under section 20(1)(ea) of the Banking Ordinance for five months from 14 May 2010 to 13 October 2010¹.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority's (HKMA) investigation found that in July 2007, Mr Ko, an employee of DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited, in the course of selling a client Constellation Credit Linked Note (Lehman Brothers related), had:

• failed to diligently disclose and explain to the client the product risks involved, and did not ensure product suitability for the same client; and
• failed to complete the risk disclosure statement for the client in accordance with the bank's internal control procedures.

In deciding the disciplinary sanction, the MA has taken into account all the circumstances of the case, including the extent of the client's losses and Mr Ko's clear disciplinary record.

For further enquiries, please contact:
Peggy Lo, Manager (Communications), at 2878 1687 or
Natalie Wu, Officer (Communications), at 2878 8246

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
14 May 2010

¹ At the relevant time, Mr Ko was an individual whose name was entered in the register maintained by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority under section 20 of the Banking Ordinance as a person engaged by DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited in respect of Type 1 (dealing in securities) and Type 4 (advising on securities) regulated activities.