香港证监会对中信及前高管提起民事起诉
Hong Kong’s regulator is pursuing Citic and five of its former directors including Larry Yung, the son of “red capitalist” Rong Yiren, China’s former vice-president, for misleading investors over exactly when the company realised it had lost billions on a currency bet gone wrong.
香港监管机构对中信(Citic)及其五名前董事展开法律及研讯程序，包括中国前国家副主席、“红色资本家”荣毅仁(Rong Yiren)之子荣智健(Larry Yung)，理由是他们在公司究竟何时意识到一笔外汇押注导致巨亏的问题上误导投资者。The civil action comes as Citic has become a flagship for Beijing’s desire to reform its state-owned enterprises after the company’s parent, Citic Group, injected $37bn of assets into its Hong Kong-listed vehicle.
这项民事法律程序启动之际，中信因其母公司中信集团(Citic Group)向香港上市的子公司注入了370亿美元资产而成为中国改革国企的旗舰之一。
That deal, completed last month, transformed it from an ailing conglomerate dubbed the “red hong” in the 1990s and best known for massive losses on an iron ore venture in Australia, into a $40bn China-focused financial services group.
上个月完成的这笔交易，使这家企业集团转型为一家市值400亿美元、专注于中国市场的金融服务集团。中信集团在上世纪90年代有“红色企业”之称，后来因投资澳大利亚铁矿石项目而遭遇巨亏，身陷困境。
The case brought by the Securities and Futures Commission centres on when the company’s management realised that a 2008 currency bet had gone badly wrong.
香港证监会(SFC)发起的这起案件，症结在于该公司管理层在什么时候意识到2008年的一笔外汇押注已经造成巨亏。Citic could not immediately be reached for comment.
记者一时联系不上中信请其置评。Citic Pacific, as it was then called, warned in October 2008 of big losses from betting that the US dollar would weaken against its Australian counterpart – which would have raised the costs of its Sino Iron development in the Pilbara region.
当时名为中信泰富(Citic Pacific)的该公司在2008年10月警告称，其对美元相对于澳元将走低的押注产生了巨额亏损，这将提高其在澳洲皮尔巴拉地区Sino Iron铁矿开发项目的成本。The losses came to $2bn. While the profits warning showed that the company became aware of the issue on September 7 2008, the SFC contends that Citic misled investors by issuing an unconnected circular on September 12 that said directors were not aware of any material adverse change in the company’s financial position.
这些亏损达到20亿美元。尽管利润预警显示，该公司在2008年9月7日就意识到这个问题，但证监会提出，中信在2008年9月12日曾发布一份通函，称就董事们所知，其财务状况没有出现任何重大不利变动，从而给投资者造成误导。The regulator said yesterday that it was seeking compensation in court from five former directors as well as sanctions from Hong Kong’s market misconduct tribunal.
该监管机构昨日表示，正请求法庭向五名前董事发出赔偿令，并请求香港的市场失当行为审裁处给予五人制裁。About 4,500 investors spent a combined $245m buying Citic shares between the September circular and the October profit warning, the regulator said. Citic Pacific shares halved the day after the warning.
该监管机构表示，在9月的通函和10月的利润预警之间，大约4500名投资者总共支出2.45亿美元购买中信股票。中信泰富股价在10月利润预警的次日被腰斩。The executives are Mr Yung, Citic Pacific’s chairman at the time of the currency bet; Henry Fan, its former managing director; former deputy managing directors Leslie Chang Li-hsien and Peter Lee; and former executive director Chau Chi-yin.
五名高管是：外汇合约签订时的中信泰富主席荣智健；前董事总经理范鸿龄(Henry Fan)；前副董事总经理张立宪(Leslie Chang Li-hsien)和李松兴(Peter Lee)；以及前执行董事周志贤(Chau Chi-yin)。Mr Yung and Mr Fan resigned in April 2009 after the Hong Kong police’s commercial crime bureau raided the company’s headquarters.
荣智健和范鸿龄在2009年4月辞职，此前香港警务处商业罪案调查科突击搜查了公司总部。The SFC’s case has been launched just before Hong Kong’s six-year statute of limitations would have expired.
香港证监会在这个城市为时六年的诉讼时效即将到期之际提起了此案。
