Minority shareholders urge securities watchdog to appeal Citic misconduct ruling

“The Citic case has implications for the wider public interest besides those of its small shareholders,” said lawmaker James To Kun-sun, who has helped about 200 Citic small shareholders who suffered losses to seek redress.

“If the Securities and Futures Commission does not appeal, the case may become a reference case under common law, affecting its future regulatory work over governance of listed firms.”

Citic is China’s largest conglomerate and its first state-backed firm to tap overseas capital markets to fund business expansion.

It was led by Yung, a son of the late Rong Yiren, who was dubbed the “Red Capitalist” and China’s vice-president from 1993 to 1998.

Citic, then known as Citic Pacific, announced on October 20, 2008, that it had made a potential HK$15.5 billion (US$2 billion) loss from “unauthorised” foreign-currency trades, six weeks after management claimed they first learned about losses from such trades on September 7.