Everbright Securities faces fines for erroneous trading

China's securities watchdog confirmed on Friday that abnormal trading on Aug. 16 by Everbright Securities constitutes legal and regulatory violations and slapped the company with record penalties totaling 523 million yuan (84.75 million U.S. dollars). The company's illegal gains resulting from the malpractice, totaling 87.21 million yuan, will be confiscated, according to a spokesman for the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). The regulator will also impose an additional fine of 436 million yuan on the company. It marks the largest fines ever issued by the commission on China's securities companies. The CSRC identified the company's violations as insider trading, disclosure of misleading information, and other violations against internal control regulations of securities companies. The CSRC will also impose fines on four Everbright Securities employees responsible for the abnormal trading and ban them from undertaking securities business. Everbright Securities will be asked to shut down proprietary trading desks and there will be a suspension on its proposals for new businesses being approved, according to the regulator.